My mom is obsessed with packing tape. She makes huge, flat like wefts of tape all day. Anyone ever heard of anything like this?

Thank you, so much for your reply’s! Great ideas, and insight to what could be going on. BTW, no tape dispenser just plain packing tape, that was stored in the closet. I buy it by the case. I definitely would not trust her with the sharp edge dispenser.
I had no clue she had any signs of dementia. She has a lot of issues going on. We are not close and I seen her maybe once a year before. I am an only child, and she left me when I was a toddler. My heart wants to help her, but my head says I’m just not qualified. So happy I found this forum.
I feel my life is at a stand still, until I can wrap my head around all of this and I guess get her tested for dementia. She has Not been diagnosed, to my knowledge. All signs point towards it though.
Thank you to all of you that took the time to help. I really appreciate it.

She is fidgeting. My friend’s sister has a fidget blanket that she loves. She has Downs and dementia. She stays busy with her blanket for a long time. I think she bought it at a craft fair. Etsy has them too.

Personally, I like popping those bubbles on the bubble wrap once in awhile when I am bored.

My mom would copy phone numbers down on post it notes - the counter would be covered in them - she said she was doing bookwork

Could she possibly be helpful in anyway with the tape? I have small shipping boxes I have to prepare by taping before packing and I could use her type of help. I have a 96 year old mother who once sorted the nails that spilled out of a container. She spent the day sorting and putting in their respective compartments.

There was this wheelchair bound woman at my mothers nursing home, who when her anxiety would ramp up - which was pretty much always - would continually cry out “Help me”. It was very disconcerting to see/hear and I can imagine even more so for her. No matter how many times I experienced it, I never got use to it.

Anyhoo - back to the point...

The staff would give her a huge plastic jar that was filled with different colored beads. Then - a divided tray was placed in front of her. The woman would immediately focus on sorting/separating the many - MANY - beads and would calm down completely.

As others have mentioned - seems your mother has found an “activity” that keeps her focused and busy. Thats the good part. The bad part is that it’s driving you nutz.

Your challenge- should you choose to accept it - is to find a different, less making you crazy activity for your mother to focus on.

I think she's just trying to keep her hands busy. There are toys for people with dementia that help with this. It's just stuff to let them fiddle with. I use kids toys instead. Same thing.

Packing tape. Off topic but I prepared a package for mailing yesterday. Good thing I had more than one roll of tape! The first roll had absolutely no stick to it! Never seen that before.

Obsessive, repetitive behaviors of all sorts is very common with dementia. Fiddling around with tape and making things out of it would fall into that category. I would get rid of the tape/put it out of her sight or reach and give her wash cloths or towels to fold instead. Tape is expensive in addition to being irritating when torn over and over, not to mention potentially dangerous because of the sawtooth device at the end.
Look into placing your mom asap......it sounds like the best idea.
Good luck!

I think maybe you should hide some tape. Perhaps give her one roll. Packing tape is great for lint and other fine particles that collect on clothing,furniture even floors. Maybe she could put it to good use unless she wants her tape kept pristine. This is an odd habit but not a harmful one.

My step fathers wife loves scotch tape, she tapes everything including the light switches. They are in AL, it is where they both need to be.

Perhaps you should consider moving her into a facility.

Hopefully she will go for rehab after her surgery. Be proactive on that. While she is there find her another place to live. You don’t have to put up with this. Don’t wait. It’s not likely to get better.
Here are some resources.
http://www.houstontx.gov/health/Aging/index.html

Google “cypress texas adult day care” and you will find a log list of adult day care locations.