My Mother has decided that her washer is not working right. I helped her do loads of laundry to prove it is working ok, yet she says she thinks it washes just ok, but not great and thinks she needs to call in a professional who knows what they are doing. I have tried to convince her that the washer is fine but she is convinced otherwise. It is like when she had a medical issue, only a doctor knows the cure and insists on going to the doctor for things like paper cuts etc. this just recently started and she never acted this way before. Is this normal for the elderly ( she is 83) how can you convince her that everything is ok without having to call"the man" ?
Something that is a bit helpful is to have a male in the family say things are okay, as mentioned above. Then when she says things need to be fixed, you can say that "Tom" said it was okay, so you don't need to call the repairman.
I have been going through this with my mother for 4 years now. With her it is the floor that is raised on stilts and bouncing under her when she walks. I know that the problem is her vascular dementia. We had extra supports put in the floors 4 years ago and she almost drove the workers crazy, calling them to fix the problem. I had to make their service card and papers "disappear" so they could have some rest. They actually do have the floor a bit too high now, but it wasn't their fault. They were trying to please their customer, though they knew it was too high. My mother has transferred the complaining over to me. I got my brothers and nephew to jump on the floor and assure her it was okay. (Strange thing is that she believed my 14-year old nephew, but not me. :-) Now I just remind her about what "the boys" said about the floor.
Sometimes seniors are quite stubborn and it's a matter of picking your battles. I wouldn't argue about the washer, but would keep watch to see if she is obsessing or imagining other things.
It's terrible that sometimes we have to be so manipulative, instead of just making honest statements.
You wrote that "this" just recently started. You mean this washing machine stuff? Or has she had other obsessions as well?
When she brings up the washing machine have you tried changing the subject?
If you think your mom's behavior has changed take her to her family Dr. and see what he/she has to say. Maybe your mom is experiencing dementia or maybe one of her meds is affecting her. Maybe she's just stubborn.
If your mom has going on about this for a while and shows no signs of letting up call a guy in to look at the washer if your mom can afford it. It might be worth the money if it settles your mom down.
(In my family we always called it "the guy". If something breaks down we call "the guy". If we need something fixed we call "the guy". Forty years later and I'm still calling "the guy" when I need something done.)
Does you mother have dementia? Older people can be easy to take advantage of, but certain types of dementia seriously impair reasoning and judgment. The control module incident made me wonder. Is it the same washing machine?
Agree with her observation. Offer a different solution.
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