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When she has nothing to do, she wanders through her house picking up imaginary lint off the floor, arranging and rearranging stacks of magazines, and periodically yelling at anybody who gets in her way. She has trouble articulating what she wants to say so lengthy conversations are out of the question. She doesn't seem to enjoy and/or follow tv shows, movies or books. She does enjoy arranging flowers, but that's the only thing that has held her attention lately She takes long naps which we think may be due to boredom. She likes to go out to eat, but that becomes expensive quickly. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

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My mom loves those word search books. I find them at bookstores for a buck -- once they're older they're marked down. I also try to find magazines or books with subjects she might be interested in. When she's in a good mood I suggest games she's played for decades -- Sorry, Yahtzee, etc. -- for a bit of a distraction.
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Great suggestions, I wanted to add to "geewiz" comments. She mentioned small puzzles with large pieces, simplified card games and music. These are all available at: memoryjoggingpuzzles - small puzzles & few pieces, 6, 12 & 20 pieces thick chunky pieces; memory games - matchmate is one; and a great sing a long - songs of yesterday with large print, easy for elderly to read and all sing a long.
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All good, OneMoreDay, my mom loved little car rides, but I do mean little. She had to be back to her own bathroom when she needed to go potty. Unfamiliar restrooms cause great frustration. Simple card games with a large print get, like make pairs and use the Joker as the old maid. Old TV programs without commercials, Roy Rogers, Bonanza, Perry Mason, etc. Older movies without commercials, especially colorized movies and she found black and white quite boring. And forget the commercials, she got confused between the storyline in the program and the events in the commercials. She couldn't keep those separate. She love to sing along to her favorite songs as I played the autoharp. The Steph she cared about was mostly participatory. She like to watch the TV shows as we fat together so she could ask me questions if she didn't understand. Conversely, if I tried to talk when she didn't want me to, I'd be shushed. Haha. And she did love to talk of the old days, but I mean talk, as she wasn't very interested in listening. She wanted to tell her version, didn't want to be interrupted, and certainly not corrected. She did like to look at old photos and have them briefly explained to her. And she loved to eat but got bored with home cooked food she had always loved and instead begin to become excited I take out food we would bring home. When we were out, we would get drive thru fast food and she really found that enjoyable and exciting, always commenting that she didn't know anybody could get food like that by just driving up to a window. Of course after a food and drink, we had to return home pretty quickly due to the need for her bathroom as already explained. Haha.
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My Mom loves for me to read from the internet - Wikipedia, news both national and local, stories from animal rescue sites, happy endings only...I'm not sure she follows everything so I'll occasionally She loves to water the yard several times a day and puts on a sun hat and sun glasses. She LOVES to ride in my car with her little dog. I was getting worried because we had pretty much seen every nice neighborhood with pretty landscaping but then we went into a neighborhood we had toured a month ago and she exclaimed, "Oh, how pretty! I've never seen this one before..." Big "Aha" moment - after a week, we start over on our tours because she honestly doesn't remember seeing it, and enjoys it all new! She loves her little dog and will walk him six or seven times a day (with hat and sunglasses) but that won't work if she begins to wander. I bought two copies of a big print, EASY crossword puzzle book and we work them together. She doesn't get too many of them, but gets excited when we (together) figure them out and she writes in the letters and recognizes the words. I have also bought a long HDMI computer cord so we can look at the internet together. She LOVES to watch YouTube videos - especially the ones with funny pets and people falling down. (I know...but whatever brings a smile to her face.)

The thing she loves the most, and I mean the VERY most is when I tell her stories about all the fun things I remember from my childhood - things she used to do for/with me. She likes to hear about our camping vacations and funny things that happened and how my Dad handled vacation crises. She also likes me to tell her stories about things her parents (my grandparents) used to do with me. I think she likes to know that we were a happy family and that she was a fantastic Mom (and she was.) I used to get frustrated repeating things for her, but I can see how much she enjoys it and so I also enjoy remembering the good ol' days.
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Don't forget jigsaw puzzles, smaller ones with big pieces. Is she able to do simple card games? The other player will have to accept 'changing rules'. Music and sing-a-longs. Think back to when you were growing up. My family always sang together, so when I tried that it worked great. Short, simple repetitive tasks. Do you have an 'exercise' period each day? Arms and legs up and down and all around. Get a magazine with lot's of color and photos of items. She may enjoy looking at it. I used to go thru fashion mags with my Mom. The styles today are similar to those when she was young so it seemed like her youth (where she was mentally). Actually routine is good for dementia folks. Try a schedule, Breakfast; Exercise, looking at magazines, lunch; folding clothes, puzzles, etc. It's easier when things are familiar.
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My aunt had loved to read but she couldn't follow an adult book any longer - the words were too big, the plot was too complex and the books were too heavy. at the library, they had books for 4th to 6th graders that were complete stories, except with and younger persons vocabulary and the storyline more in a digest form so it was a smaller buck to start with. Even so she never remembered what she read, she read these books with enjoyment, I just never asked her to tell me what they were about.
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Your mom sounds very similar to my dad. Depending on the kind of day he's having he likes to help me fold towels and he puts the silverware away when I empty the dishwasher. He also likes to sort things; coins and buttons usually. He used to be able to count and add the coins up after they were sorted but he can't really do that anymore. :-( He likes to help fill the birdfeeder too. We try to find tasks/projects that only last about 15-30 minutes because longer tasks seems to cause more confusion later. It's as if he wears his brain out. I hope this helps!
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I need to add, I am SO lucky Mom still can, and loves to read.The library has many large print books, and they choose and deliver them to her.She also enjoys books on tape. She can't seem to concentrate on tv or movies anymore. She does love to go sit on a park bench and people watch. Especially near playgrounds....she loves "kid noise".
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Circle the word books....maybe some kids arts and craft kits, like those small black background coloring sets, that come with markers, possibly one of flowers. Large piece jigsaw puzzles..again, flowers.

Packing sandwiches and going to a park is cheaper than eating out. People watching and feeding ducks are free. :)
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Music. Books on cd-- purchased, library, or recorded by family so she hears your voices.
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