Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Mom is Bored!

Yesterday, definitely due to the gray days and maybe because of the full moon, Mom was bored!  Along with bored came Snippy Mom – not really bad or mad but not really satisfied either.
She was up and dressed before 6:00 am – have I mentioned that a caregiver never gets to sleep in?  By the time I exercised and began getting breakfast ready within our normal schedule, it was easy to see Mom was getting impatient.  Lots of clearing the throat and harrumphing were coming from her direction.  When I put her breakfast on the table and told her it was time to eat, she didn’t understand me and said, “I’m going to have to write a letter to my family and ask them [about paying for this].”  The words at the end were quite jumbled but it was easy to understand she was talking about money.  So maybe she thought the service wasn’t what it should be?  Too funny!
As the day progressed, Mom spent little time sitting, instead moving from window to window most of the day.  I couldn’t seem to get her interested in any activities and she kept sighing as she moved around.  She was bored!  That may not seem so surprising but Mom taught all of her children and grandchildren that there was no such thing as “bored” because there were just too many things that a person could do.  Unfortunately, when I mentioned to her that she was bored, she told me there just isn’t much that she is able to do any more.  That is one of the sad states of dementia.
The one thing she did ask numerous times yesterday was if we were going to the store.  She was concerned that there were only two bananas in the bowl and that we had to go get more.  No matter how many times I explained that two would be plenty for the morning and we would wait and go tomorrow she continued to worry that we would run out.  Under normal circumstances I would have said, “Let’s go,” but since we had just received almost two inches of snow again, I really didn’t want to get her out yet.
When my husband came home, we decided to get her out of the house.  We went to Max & Erma’s for dinner and then headed to Ollie’s where I walked her all around the store.  She complained a bit but we made it through the entire store.  I think it helped the restlessness a bit.
Before bed, I told her that she should stay in bed until 6:30 because typically I am up at 6:00 to exercise and by 6:30 I am getting breakfast ready.  It worked and breakfast this morning went smoothly.
Today I will take her to Jessie’s for a visit while I go to an appointment with my allergist.  That should give her a nice break in her day because the boys are home from school and there are lots of animals to pet!

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