Mom is doing pretty well. She's 89 now, still walking twice a day and living on her own. We talk every day and I take her on an outing at least once a week. Her health and her mind seem pretty good to me. However, she has a habit now that is really bothering me. A couple of years ago, she started saying thank you thank you thank you a lot. Three times in a row. And I'd say you're welcome. But over the past few months, she has increased her thank you's when I am with her. Every few minutes as a matter of fact. I've tried to explain that one thank you means a lot but several are overwhelming. And I can see that she doesn't really understand why saying so many thank yous are a bad thing. I try to divert the conversations and move away from thank you as best I can.
Writing this of course I'm feeling really stupid. What on earth could be wrong with a mom who says thank you all the time? There are so many worse problems out there. But, it makes being with her difficult. I want to be compassionate. At this point, should I just let these thank yous go? Not respond? Say you're welcome? Attempt to explain again that one good thank you means a lot, but many overwhelm me - this doesn't seem to work. How can I be compassionate to mom and still hold onto my own patience and give her the best quality interaction we can have?
Thank you for help with what seems like a silly little issue.
Beth
I am sure there are others on the forum who will give you great advice on what to say as I never personally run into that issue with my parents.
In the mean time, Aging Care website has a lot of good articles about Alzheimer's/Dementia. Go to https://www.agingcare.com/Alzheimers-Dementia and scroll down to the articles that are of interest to you.