That's great news! I'm happy to hear your mom has agreed to let you try to train her first. My cats are great with using the scratching post, I don't think I've ever seen Corkscrew use anything else since I trained him. I like to put a little catnip on the scratching post and he seems to like it too, it encourages him to use it. When I was training him I'd give him a small treat everytime I would see him using the post. I also have a few of those cardboard (you can get them at Petsmart for like $8) scratching boxes around the apartment just in case he does feel like walking all the way to the living room. So far it works. Here's the link for soft paws. soft paws