Well its pretty apparent that mom can no longer go shopping like she used to. Last couple months she panics in the store, forgets her wallet, cannot count money, and shops like a 5 year old (juice and cookies only). I have been gathering ready eat items for her in my cart and putting them away in her kitchenette as if she picked them herself.

Yesterday we took her to Olive Garden after grocery shopping and she gets too confused to pick a dish, so I have been ordering for her. They were grating cheese on her chicken and the waitress said “just say stop when there’s enough” and moms attention span cannot hold for 10 seconds to tell her when to stop. Choices of drinks were enough to make her panic when the waitress rattles them off.

Today I had to work for 3 hours this morning, and Shaun had to be in Salt Lake. While she was alone, she decided to go on a walk to JoAnns and left the door wide open to the 20 degree snowy weather outside. I came home to a 50 degree house. JoAnn and her had a lunch date to McDonalds for about an hour so I was able to clean out her bathroom and kitchenette while they were gone.

I saw this info graphic pop up in my Pinterest feed and had to put in my two cents…

Yes its stressful… yes relationships are strained at times… 100% sandwich generation… of course we share a home… only 10 hours?! Ha!… just $5,000?? how about emptying my savings of more than $15,000 before she moved in to add on a bedroom and bathroom for her to live?… changed my job, take much less hours, and a constant worry my benefits are going to be cut when HR finds out I’m not working the full time hours I was hired for…. I am proud and frustrated and so glad I get to be with my mom the last few years of her life….

I have to say this is a difficult time of my life, and I know it’s going to get worse. It makes me sad, because of my nursing home background, to be acutely aware of how this plays out in our future.

Two days in a row my children are convinced that Grandma Karen is trying to poison them. The first day she brought out some of the oldest driest chocolate I had ever seen and offered it to Jack and our cousin RaeLynn who was visiting. Of course children hear the word “chocolate”, they grab the closest one and shove it in their mouth. Unfortunately it tasted like 90% cocoa powder, bitter and so OLD! It was literally like chewing powder. (Yes I tried a small corner)

The looks on the kids faces said it all, they ran in opposite directions to the garbage and bathroom to spit the old bitter chocolate out as fast as they could.

The very next day the boys were watching a show downstairs, when mom handed them both a bottle of juice…. Mind you, she has a tendency to reuse her old Pepsi bottles and refill them with various juices then let them sit and ferment on her counter for weeks.

I get a frantic call at work from both boys with tummy pains and accusations of grandma is trying to kill them. We had a long discussion of telling grandma “thank you” when she offers something, taking it graciously and THEN SAYING “I think I’ll save that for later”

Published by KaGardn1

I'm trying to live the most meaningful and intentional life possible. Minimalist, Vegetarian, Fierce protector of a full night sleep, Mother, Wife, Daughter -caretaker, Sister, Friend, Nurse. Sharing day to day life with family and friends. A quest to minimize effects of Alzheimer's Disease. View all posts by KaGardn1