I had three different conversations with friends this week about how frustrated they were trying to get their parents or in-laws to do something that to them was totally obvious.  I refered them all to David Solie's wonderful book "How to Say it to Seniors."  In his book, David talks about how to bridge the communication gap between generations who have different developmental agendas.  David is an advisor to Caring.com and you can ask him questions on the site.  If you are someone who has ever had trouble getting a parent or in-law to do something (I know 100% of you are raising your hands!), then you should definitely check out David's book or post questions to him on the site.