number of times Mom woke up last night: 2...but I only needed to go downstairs to help her back to bed once.
what we watched: Woman of the Year-Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy's first movie together. Lovely.
what we had for supper: bowly bowls of left-over pasta
After a blissful four nights in a row with Mom not waking at all, she was back to her usual last night.
I had received the 24 hour clock that I ordered in the mail a few days ago, but had tucked it away with the good nights we were having. I got the idea (gleaned from some discussions on the web a while ago) to adapt the face of the clock to what Mom does at certain times of the day, to help her know better when it is time to sleep. She really doesn't understand how to tell time anymore (tho' it does shine out occasionally), but she cares very much about doing the right thing at the right time (as it gets harder and harder for her to discern, she cares more...a sad circle). I had put off this project when she started sleeping through the night several nights ago...but will put it back on the list now, I think. And share about it here when it is accomplished.
I feel a heaviness about it all coming down a bit again...
I think it is the cold weather...something my mom has always intensely disliked. She doesn't want to take walks outside anymore, tho' the house is warm she grumbles that it is cold outside, we can't tuck her up on the chaise in the sun anymore. But when the sunny, wide hall that will lead to her bedroom is built, I am hoping it will make the winters more pleasant for her-and therefore-for all of us.
In the meantime, I will try to more often make a pot of tea when she wakes up from her nap in the late afternoon, as I did yesterday. A bowl with cashews and little chocolate biscottis, our cups of milky tea and our books (tho' Mom was so happy with the snack she never got to her book!) certainly warmed up the day and led us into a peaceful evening...in spite of the election returns. : )
what we watched: Woman of the Year-Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy's first movie together. Lovely.
what we had for supper: bowly bowls of left-over pasta
After a blissful four nights in a row with Mom not waking at all, she was back to her usual last night.
I had received the 24 hour clock that I ordered in the mail a few days ago, but had tucked it away with the good nights we were having. I got the idea (gleaned from some discussions on the web a while ago) to adapt the face of the clock to what Mom does at certain times of the day, to help her know better when it is time to sleep. She really doesn't understand how to tell time anymore (tho' it does shine out occasionally), but she cares very much about doing the right thing at the right time (as it gets harder and harder for her to discern, she cares more...a sad circle). I had put off this project when she started sleeping through the night several nights ago...but will put it back on the list now, I think. And share about it here when it is accomplished.
I feel a heaviness about it all coming down a bit again...
I think it is the cold weather...something my mom has always intensely disliked. She doesn't want to take walks outside anymore, tho' the house is warm she grumbles that it is cold outside, we can't tuck her up on the chaise in the sun anymore. But when the sunny, wide hall that will lead to her bedroom is built, I am hoping it will make the winters more pleasant for her-and therefore-for all of us.
In the meantime, I will try to more often make a pot of tea when she wakes up from her nap in the late afternoon, as I did yesterday. A bowl with cashews and little chocolate biscottis, our cups of milky tea and our books (tho' Mom was so happy with the snack she never got to her book!) certainly warmed up the day and led us into a peaceful evening...in spite of the election returns. : )
1 comment:
Ah, yes, winters... Your experience with your Mom is v similar to mine with Dad. His heart was in the Amazon, and we brought him to the cold north. Poor Dad. And even though we kept his room at 90 degrees, still, it was the outside temperature that mattered to him. If we could only accommodate our parents exactly as they wished--then I suppose we'd be giving them youth again as well.
Hot chocolate and biscottis are pretty close to youth. :)
Well done.
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