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My dadsays "everything is better in his imagination." I told him I can't just sit and look at the walls! He makes me so miserable. What to do?

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Whoa ... there need to be some boundaries set in this household if you and Dad are going to co-exist successfully.

If your television is loud enough to be heard in his room, consider using a wireless headset. That would be polite. But you are under no obligation to pay any attention to his "demands" about what you do.
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I am surprised at the answers. My mother has Alzheimer's and all she ever wants to do other than eat or go to the bathroom is lie in bed. She goes in a rage if my 90 year old father wants to watch tv (the news or an occasional baseball game). She used to be that way if he'd turn it off and go on the computer. Now it's even if he wants to read. She wants to do nothing, but goes crazy if he wants to do anything. I do not live there, but have seen her reaction when I have been there. I can't help but feel the person who posted this may be experiencing the same thing. It's not about her watching tv. It's about his reaction.
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Why are you watching TV all day? You could be on line here helping people. LOL
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@shakingdustoff...haven't you ever watched EWTN? Methinks you are throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I do not watch much at all, but every now and again there is something worthwhile. Books and crosswords are better most of the time, I'll grant you that!
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Is the only television in your father's bedroom? I don't understand why he wants to control whether you watch tv or not. Can you explain this situation a little more?
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Close and lock your door. Your room is YOUR room. His room is HIS room. Is this the only tv in the house? If not, turn on the other tv and wait and see your father begin to watch it.
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Redhead, try getting a computer and just watching the shows online with a headset so he will think you are working on something. You can't just stare at him or at the walls all day, but neither are you likely to convince him of anything rationally. He probably can't make sense of what is going on but does not think the problem is with him, so he is angry at the TV. Can he go to a senior tenter at all and give you a little time to be you??
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On the value of tv programs, there still are some that are well worth watching, including the Smithsonian Channel and some of the scientific channels.
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Call the Midwife, Mr. Selfridge, & Downton Abbey aren't smut or trash. Neither is Planet Earth! But I know you can buy smut & trash from Amazon in soft cover form. :-D I think his rage at the TV is really about something else.

I see a lot of people on this site who have an elder who has lost touch with others, friends, the community, and is basically home alone all the time. I agree with the suggestion to find a day program for him to go into, to occupy his mind and give his week some variety.
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Shakingdustoff...I would never suggest even to a fellow Catholic to accept everything on EWTN OR anywhere else but the Gospel itself as the Gospel truth! Don't worry so about the things you can't control, create peace and practice love wherever you can...I'm sure that's all Papa Francis "worries" about these days. Whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. Good news about Mom and you getting to a better place here and now (or at least soon). These are either end times or they aren't - after all, we were promised wars and rumors of wars always. But, if they are, we might as well be found doing our duty and our best; if they aren't, there's a lot of work to be done and we'd best be doing it..."in the world, though not OF it."
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