She has NEVER watched television, does not know any music other than church hymns, the only famous people she knows are a couple of presidents. She doesn't even watch the news because she can only comprehend basic vocabulary. This isn't really her fault. She grew up attending a one room rural school house she walked 3 miles to get to each day and only completed the 8th grade. She never had a hobby in her 84 years of life. All she ever enjoyed doing was working. Well now she has to live with family because of her health, she cant drive, cant work and finds herself being bored. She is not open minded to trying anything. She will not sew, knit, read, play games, puzzles, nothing. She just wants to sit and talk talk talk...about saving money and eating food....ALL DAY!!! Okay, as if talking about hoarding food and pinching pennies isn't hard enough, imagine trying to talk to someone who cant hear you well at all because she refuses to wear her hearing aids (she is too cheap to pay for the batteries but is a very rich woman) AND....you cant speak to her on your own level. You have to speak to her like she is in 3rd grade and make everything more simple for her to understand. This is an example of her rambling on: "Well suga, I think we gone have to make a trip up there to the dolla market and get some of those sweet potatoes for 33 cents a pound. I wish I could get my medicine cheaper than what I been doin because I'm having to pay $3.42 a month for it right now and its hard on me when I aint been working (she has a regular monthly income of $1800 per month between social security and interest checks, $700K in the bank, two homes she rents out, and $30K in the stock market). I'll be real glad when this cold weather wears off and I can start me a garden and not have to buy all these vegetables. I sure will be glad when so and so brings me some deer meat but I hope it will be tender and that way I can chew it. I like deer meat. I like to make a stew out of it. Its real good. " You get the point? It's constant and goes on all day with no relief. If I turn the tv on and turn up the volume, she does not get the point. I finally said to her " Grandma, this is my favorite show. I'm going to sit down and relax for a bit and watch it okay?" NOPE, doesn't work! I told her that not everyone loves to talk all of the time. She claimed that she doesn't like to talk all the time either. My jaw fell open. Really? I can't tell. I have to sit in my cold garage with my laptop to get a break., Guess what? She follows me out there too. What do I do without being rude??
I told mom "You will live like a princess, like goin' on a cruise, it's just the ship doesn't leave the dock. Bus trips, entertainment, three meals, a maid and laundry service. Enjoy the cruise."
Where is your mom in all of this? You live with your grandmother, right? You sound young enough that you should have "places to go and people to see", so that you can get away from her for some time each day. And get some wireless headphones as suggested. Just because your grandmother has no interests, doesn't mean you have to sit and listen to her all day long. I feel for you!
You mentioned church hymns, and I am wondering back when your grandmother was growing up that maybe the church frowned upon women being interested in the outside world, that they should only be interested in their husband's care, children, and church itself. And that her husband never talked business or world events with her.
But you did mention that she had worked.... what type of work? Was her wealth from the work or was it her husband's wealth or both? Who is managing the homes that she rents out, and does she have a say in what goes on with the investment properties?
Could be your grandmother is bored, and talking is easy, and you are the only one she has to told to. Are there any church ladies that she can visit, maybe a Bible class? She needs to be around people of her own generation.
My husband's grandmother was the same, talk talk talk while she had the TV blaring and the next day repeated everything she heard. I stress to everyone the importance of a hobby or interest to keep you busy and involved.
Good luck!
I might try to figure out a way to intrigue her or amuse her in some way. I know she say she's not interested in many things, but I might try to find something that would amuse her. Is she able to go somewhere that she could talk to others who grew up like she did? It might allow her to winde down if she was able to rid some of her energy on other things. Can she fold clothes, shell peas, anything that gives her purpose.
I know the constant talking can be annoying, but I will say that some of those elderly people may have more to offer than we realize. I might slow down and really listen to her. Sounds like she's a very smart woman.
My mom has Dementia, bad hearing, bad eyesight, and is on oxygen 24/7, and uses a walker. This makes it hard for her to enjoy anything. What she seems to enjoy most, is for me to watch TV with her, although I don't think she sees, hears, or understands much of it. Because of this, she talks, and talks, and talks! What makes it worse, is that she is pretty incoherent and doesn't usually make sense. I need to know how to get her to be quiet without hurting her feelings. The bad thing is, this could be a break for me, if I didn't have to constantly pause the TV to try to hear/understand her. (I have a profound hearing loss myself since birth, and rely on the TV's caption for TV and lip reading to listen to her, so obviously I can't do both.) This is driving me up a wall! (She is 89 yrs old)
This is so ME in this post. May we find a way to tune them out and get on with our lives and all the rest of what we have to do.