Does anyone have a funny story? I think we need to laugh more, caregivers!!! LOL

When my father was 96 years old he needed to go to a rehab facility. The rehab was at the Jewish Home for the Aging. He wasn't very happy about going there. He told me he didn't think he was going to like being Jewish. He was Catholic.

LOL now that you mention it! One day my mother put her blouse out on the bed that she was supposed to wear to a bridal shower, and because she always put my father's clothes on the bed for him to wear, he thought that blouse was for him..so he put it on! And then he walks into the kitchen and says "is this what you want me to wear?!" he said it so innocently like it was something he was supposed to wear. I nearly spit out my pancakes!

My mom is a HUGE flirt. And always trying to fix up my 31 YO daughter. Every Dr and todays PT guy are possiblilties.. Today after her first PT visit I already know the young man is married, has a baby, where he lives.. You name it. Same with her cute cardiologist and dermatologists.. And my Aunt is just a bad,, she and mom joke about "checking out mens packages" if you get my drift,, and I know you do! They are 85 and 88 and all my cousins and I get a kick out of it!

The other day I told my husband (89yr ALZ) I was going to ride my motorcycle to FL to visit Billy (our son). He asked if he could come. I told him he could not ride on the motorcycle and he asked if I could teach him to be my passenger. I said okay, let’s go. When we got halfway to the garage he asked where we were going. I told him I was going to take him on the motorcycle. He stopped dead in his tracks and said “are you trying to kill me or something!” I told him he asked me to teach him to ride and he laughed so hard it was funny. I had to calm him down so he could walk back to his chair. Picture funny: 88 pound me on a 250 ninja with 200 pound him on the back. Of course I would never actually let him try to get on it, but it was funny.

We live in a condo and the upstairs neighbors are quite loud. Last Saturday mom was with it enough to comment: “Those neighbors upstairs sure need to lay off the butter!”. I laughed so hard I could hardly breathe. Then miracle of miracles. The next morning I was washing mom’s hair and the boom, boom, boom of someone walking around started again and mom deadpanned “there they go running for that butter truck!” Normally she has trouble stringing days and conversations together so this was quite a funny treat.

I don’t know if anyone has ever seen One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. Every time I visit the Health & Rehabilitation Center my dad is at. I feel like I’m Jack Nicholson playing the role of Randle McMurphy. It’s basically a nuthouse and nobody is rehabilitated there; but just gets worse. I plan on bringing in a deck of cards and poker chips to play with the people in wheel chairs at the table. And no I don’t plan on bringing in playing cards like Randle McMurphy in the movie; however , it did cross my mind and could catch attention of others at the table.
At least I’d spending time wisely with out those cards and I’ll make sure they’re having a good time I also don’t want to make that good of a impression because I’ll be getting phone calls from other patients asking where they hell is your son because he needs to come here when we’re eating and play cards

Sometimes I myself have moments of confusion or forgetfulness, especially if I am very tired.  One day I returned to the local store  two more times for things I'd forgotten (like money, the first time).  I told them that dementia can be contagious.  Yesterday after grocery shopping I forgot how to do the credit-card machine, dropped stuff from my purse, and accepted help from cashier.  She laughed when I told her, "this is why they have us retire and won't let us work anymore."

Several months ago, when my husband was still capable of showering himself following my instructions, I called out the body parts for him to soap up. "Wash your left arm." He did. "Wash your right arm." He did. "Wash your chest." He did. "Wash your legs." He did. "Wash your penis." (As a doctor's family, we always used the correct anatomical names for body parts.) He did. "Now wash your rectum." He stared blankly into space. I repeated this instruction several times, but no response. Finally, out of exasperation because I was in a hurry to get to an appointment, I raised my voice, called him by his full name, and said, "Do you know where your rectum is??" He very calmly replied, "I haven't been able to find it in here."

I haven't stopped laughing since. He can't shower himself anymore, but every time I tell this story to someone in front of him, he laughs out loud. When I told my daughter about it, he looked at her, grinned, and said, "Don't you believe it."

Humor is so important. I cherish all the funny moments, especially those that make him flash that wonderful grin. I'm writing all of them in a book that I will share one of these days.

Lol. Prefixes are funny and interpretation can be interpreted in different ways. Text “by presenter “Lol” on text and the recipient” It could be “ laugh out loud”. “Lots of laughter or laughs.” I thought when females contacted me by text it meant “lots of love ❤️”. Try to make others laugh through own issues and problems you go through as of a 24/7
CG. End of day you laugh at the day with a smile 😃.

I’ll try a funny double dose 24/7of a
Phone is like a gun and don’t know what 95 old dad by call (911) . He pushed their limits. After 16 police officers at house in 2 years . It came where they called Social Services. A Male and nice looking female came to house. I’ve never been married and no kids . Told Made phone call to male that got RN coming to house to do appointment application for in house help. The MSA certification dude never heard voice message. Only reason he called is because hot female “LOST” her “BADGE”. Thinking Maybe asking that she can stay for a sleep over; My dad probably scare her off like police too. Police said previously; to put him in assisted living and let them take care of him. My quote is You never know who you may marry.. Maybe she’ll kick him outta the house. I only met her today. They’re coming back. Don’t ask what my intensions are. Date maybe. Don’t know?
Hope that be funny enough. A friend said to me, at least your making good friends with the local police 👮 👮‍♀️🚔 officers and not running 🏃.

When we placed my father-in-law in a memory care facility, he thought he was on a cruise ship and wanted to know where our room was and who the activity director was.

Lynnm - your comment about it being about the moment is really very profound. So often people will beg off from visits because " they can't remember who I am and they won't remember I've been there 5 minutes after I've gone". While that may be true the moments you are with them can make their life better!

Have another one. So, I decided it would be a great idea to take my mom to a theme park of sorts-she's always loved going places. Well, it involves a wheelchair, can't let her out of your sight for even a second and because of the diabetes the food choices, etc. it's all quite the challenge. Anyway, we got back to the hotel and about an hour later I asked her if she had a good day. She replied 'Well, yes, hun, I've a real good day. I did think we were going somewhere today tho'. Really, Mom, really! LOL I just shook my head and laughed. Remember the real reason I do these things with her. She's so happy in the moment, even tho five minutes later that 'moment' may be gone, one thing I think I've learned is that in her world it's not about making memories anymore, it really is about the moment. And keeping her happy in the moment!

These stories are hilarious! Keep them coming please.

Oh you all....I laughed out loud...

Thank you all

Hahaha! I love all of these!

When Mom moved to memory care, her new roommate Barbara thought I was a god when I miraculously made her "broken" TV work. The problem? The "remote" she was unsuccessfully employing was actually her phone. Unfortunately, once the TV was on she turned the volume up so damn loud I quickly regretted my deification, but it was fun when her face lit up as bright as the TV when I got it to turn on!

If you're looking for more of the hilarity that is dementia, I write a personal blog chronicling our dementia adventures. In our household we celebrate the insanity and appreciate the laughter of dementia - it helps us make it through the days when there are no smiles to be had.
stumpedtowndementia

So, one morning my father had gone outside in his slippers. When he came back in they were soaking wet from the heavy dew we get here in Virginia during the summer. I took him to his room to change them, he had a sock on one foot but not the other, this is a regular thing for him. So I remove one slipper and the sock, which I found out was actually both socks, so that’s where it was! I go to take the other slipper off and really have to pull hard to get it off, what the heck is going on? It finally comes off and lo and behold he has put a leather glove on that foot! I’m laughing so hard I fall back and all I could think about was how much it looked like a gorilla foot. 😂

One day a family friend came to visit my dad. He asked my dad do you know who I am. My dad answered him so you don't who you are.

Twillie's story about the toilet brush reminded me of something funny that happened a few years ago. We had moved my father out of his house in PA and moved to OH. There were all sorts of miscellaneous items to clean out and pack, as the next-door neighbor was buying the house, and it happened that a couple toilet brushes were among them. They ended up on the floor of the back seat of my car. I travel around quite a bit and often don't get things cleaned out, especially when it gets cold. So one day I went to Michigan to give a presentation at a doctor's office, so I drove up the night before and stayed in a hotel about a mile from the office. The weather was expected to get much colder (from about freezing down to 0 F). Generally, the weather is clear and dry when it gets that cold, so I figured the windshield would be free of ice in the morning. Wrong!!--there must have been a sprinkle of freezing rain overnight, so when I got to the car some 15-20 minutes before the appointment, I was shocked to find a layer of ice. I started the car and turned on the heater, but of course it takes time to heat up--more time that I had. I tried using my scraper, but this didn't go so well and certainly not quickly enough. Then I saw the toilet brush was still in the car, so in desperation I used this, and it actually worked reasonably well! I got to the office just a couple minutes before I had to start, so this toilet brush had "saved the day" for me. However, I figure that if anyone saw me, they probably figured I needed to be locked up somewhere!

My mom used to get tangled in her sweaters or long sleeve tops when
she tried to dress herself and get
frustrated&agitated.One day,as
she wrestled with a top and her
head was inside it as she tussled
to get her arms through..I said:
"What are you doing,hiding?".
She stopped tussling and burst out laughing.We laughed together
as she allowed me to untangle her.
I loved making her laugh.

Patient in a memory care facility came out of her room with two sanitary napkins on her feet.......they were slippers!

Oh my god was this wonderful. I laughed all the way through. There should be more of this on aging care. It made me feel wonderful and made me want to go back and think of the funny things that went on while I was taking care of my husband at home. FANTASTIC

Thank you for posting this. The stories are great! Who's to say if their reality is any more real than ours. Sometimes I think my mom is still in her dream after waking. Dreams are random and confused, just like mom's waking reality. Finding humor in all of this is healing for all of us. Thank you.

I found a toilet bowl brush on my mother’s coffee table. I ask her why - she said she was scratching her back with it. She thought it was a back brush that I had given her.

Took my mom out to eat. She asked me numerous times, Have we ordered yet? Yes, we had, of course. When the server brought our food Mom says "Oh, this looks great! But how did you know what I would like?" Server was so confused, tried to pick the plates back up, I told her no, this is good thank you. When she walked away from table, I saw her checking her order book, then at the computer, looking very confused. Walked around checking other tables. I went up to her and told her the situation-that it wasn't her. She had tears in her eyes, said she just started working there and had already made a mistake earlier in the day and thought she had made another one. Poor kid! I felt so bad for her. My mom is just so convincing!!!

My grandma was soooo senile and soooo sweet. She was always happy, cheerful & loved to talk to people. But she was really on another planet. One day, after my mom left for work, (grandma lived with us) my grandma left the house to walk to the next block where the Tastee Freeze ice cream stand was. There was a tiny place where you could go in & sit down to eat; it had 5-6 stools. Sharon, the owner, saw her & said, “Hi Lily, what can I do for you?” My grandma handed Sharon her watch & said, “Will you please fix this. It’s not working.” Sharon said yes & took the watch. She said, “Would you like an ice cream cone while I fix this?” Of course grandma said yes.

So, Sharon called my mom at work to tell her grandma was at Tastee Freeze...again. My mom said she’d be right there.

My my mom gets there, Sharon gives grandma her watch back and my mom said, “Okay mama lets go home.”

On the walk back home, grandma said, “The people at that watch repair shop are so nice! They always give me an ice cream cone while they’re repairing my watch.”

True story....grandma was a trip and I have lots of stories. I remind myself of them while I’m caring for her daughter now; my mom.

I moved my step mother Ruth into my house for the last four years of her life. She had a small appetite most of the time. Her fav saying was " just a little something, not too much". One day my husband brought home a six pack of beer called " A Little Sumthin".. We had a laugh at that... later one evening after dinner she was being cranky and wanted ice cream. I got out the melon baller and scooped her out a tiny scoop of ice cream. I really thought she would get angry but she laughed and laughed... Whew, success.

I would love my dad to be in this mode for as long as I could
At this point we take as much as we could in their good times.

Laugh and smile as much as you could cherish every minute of it.

What a great idea for a thread! My Mom would take cloth napkins from the dining room at AL, fashion them into belts and wear them back to the dining room. Some days she would be her grandkids very strict piano teacher and other days she would interview them for jury duty.

I regularly read people's comments and advise and draw strength from it in my own situation. My husband is in a care facility due to being an aggressive Alzheimer's patient. His aggression is only directed at me and I have been advised by the nurses not to visit and take telephone calls anymore. So he deals with one of my daughters and her husband - thank God for my daughter's help.
Last week he called my daughter saying that there were two policemen in his wing and they came to take me, residing in the room across from him (as per him), away. I tried to run away but they caught up with me, put me in handcuffs and took me to prison. To this day he is keeping up this story. He now has started doing his own laundry, folding it and putting it away and cleaning his studio suite, since "I am in prison". He feels now that he is in a better place than me, and is happy! He has narcissistic tendencies so this explains the above better.
No more issues with him wanting to go home!!!
His story is in a way funny but also sad given his state of mind.