Everyday is a surprise with dementia but it actually seems that we can handle anything that comes our way. We have this uncanny ability to "jedi mind trick" Mother out of her crazy thoughts, sadness, or whatever the day brings. You can start to see her frown coming from a mile away. It is seriously the biggest frown I've ever seen. As soon as we see this coming we know she's ready to "go home", wants to see her Mom, or wants to talk about her dead Father. At this point you can't really do much but distract her and make her think about something else. I used to be really bad at it due to the fact that I was wearing my sensitive pants but now we've all perfected it.
As the frown comes we try many different tactics to get her thinking about something else. Sarcasm and laughter works really well with her. She still laughs at things so we take advantage of that. She loves Ellen and comedy shows. She'll laugh every once in awhile at the shows. I'm actually not sure if she really is watching the tv because the blank stare makes me wonder. Anyways, the trick is to make her laugh. Once this laugh comes she forgets about her death wishes or whatever for just a few minutes! Most often this is repeated until she really forgets or is distracted by something else. We will take her for walks to the veggie garden or look for the kitten together. She loves meowing. You can't beat dementia but you can Jedi Mind trick it!
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