Not liking disorder, I often find my dad stacking piles of junk mail, pushing itmes around on the counter tops lining them up in neat little rows and inspecting the floor. Slightly hunched over he scans the wooden planks below seeking out the pesky intruders on tidiness. Soon I hear, "Where is the broom and dust pan?" They are where they always are. I never move them. Always in the same place. But the question never ceases to be asked.
If I leave him to his own devices, soon I see him telescoping the kitchen and eventually his eyes will fall on the pantry. I can almost read his mind, “Ah ha! I think they are behind THIS door.” Bingo!
Sweeping is a great way to keep him occupied for a while but the down side is that he always wants his work inispected. "I'm not sure I did a very good job. Would you come and look at my work?" comes his question. Often sweeping is the chore I've given him to busy him and keep him out of my hair for about 10 minutes. In response to his question I usually say, "You always do a great job, Pop so I am sure that it turned out fine. I'll look at it later."
In a couple of hours all of the above will be repeated again and from his perspective it will have been the first time of that day.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
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What if you hand him window cleaner and have him wash all the glass in the house on a reg. basis. Those electric toothbrushes kick up quite a splatter...
ReplyDeleteYes, I have gotten him to do windows. He doesn't seem to like that as much so I don't go there often.
ReplyDeleteMy mother has dementia, it affects everyone differently. She used to be a fastidious housekeeper & even cleaned houses for a living fresh out of high school. At 90, she is clearly messy, not as clean, and tends to move things around to different locations in her studio apt. on a regular basis, which causes her more confusion. It gets a little exasperating for sure.
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