A Day in the Life...

Having a person in the home with dementia makes for an interesting day. At times it's even comical. I don't mean to offend anyone by making light of a serious disease, but Hubby and I both agreed that we need to keep our senses of humor when dealing with his mom. So, here's a sample of one day, yesterday:

Mom-in-law (Merle) from what I hear was once quite a cook, and she often asks if there's anything she can do to help in the kitchen, although with her vision problem there's not a lot she can do. But, Hubby asked her if she could attempt to make her cold Green Bean Salad. Nothing to cook, just toss the ingredients together, mix, and chill, easy enough. So first thing Hubby did was ask, "Do you remember what goes in it?"

Merle: "I think so... green beans.... hard boiled eggs... salad dressing... onion... salt.... pepper..."

Hubby: "Seems like there's something else... like paprika?"

"No, I never put paprika in it... green beans.... hard boiled eggs... salad dressing... onion... salt.... pepper..."

A thirty minute conversation ensues about the ingredients. Still the same list is repeated.

So Merle and I go to the grocery store. She pushes the cart, I walk in front the whole time guiding it away from running over small children.

One of the first items we pick up is a carton of eggs. (Yes, I know you should get your cold things last, but as slow as we were walking I had no intentions of zig-zagging across the store. The eggs could survive until we got home to the fridge.)

Then in the produce section "We need to get eggs."

Me: "We already got the eggs."

Then on the aisle with the salad dressing "Green beans.... hard boiled eggs... salad dressing... onion... salt.... pepper... OH, we need to get eggs!"

"We already got the eggs."

Then in the meat department "Do you have eggs at home?"

"We already got the eggs."

After getting the rest of our groceries, and establishing another 4 times that we had indeed picked up the eggs, we checked out and went home. Then came the time to make dinner.

"Are you sure you remember how to make your salad?"

"I think so... green beans.... hard boiled eggs... salad dressing... onion... salt.... pepper... paprika..."

Another twenty minute conversation about the ingredients.

So Merle starts making her salad, carefully putting each ingredient in the bowl. Then she turns to me and asks

"So where are the bacon bits?"

"BACON BITS?!? You never once mentioned bacon bits!"

"Oh. Well we need bacon bits."

Luckily we had a package of bacon in the fridge. A few pieces were nuked and crumbled and saved the day.

So anyway, these little tidbits have been comical for us. Hubby and I know things are going to get worse over time, but we're trying to see the humor and not dwell on the negative of it.