I fully revoke my prior post and interpretation of my parents telling me I don't have to open the door to give out candy on Halloween while they are gone on vacation. This evening, he rambled on about something regarding the mail while they were gone. Basically that when the mail comes, I should take my mail out and put the rest of the mail in a pile. That's already standard operating procedure.

Even I can't find anything to be offended about with that one. It was so pointless, unnecessary and benign that he couldn't have been trying to offend me (which they often do without even trying).

If that is the case with this statement, it makes it possible that no offense was intended by the Halloween candy statement, which was equally pointless and unnecessary. I was reading control into that statement but now I'm thinking it may, too, have been benign.

I think both times he was just rattling off what happened to cross his mind at the moment. Both were considerations about things while they were gone, and all property owners are paranoid in absentia. Maybe in dementia in his case. It very well may be that he's just losing his marbles.