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The customer service rep at the furniture store will exchange it, but we have already missed 2 appointments because those days she liked the couch. I’m lost.

My mom today was complaining about her shoes and eyeglasses. She wants new pairs of both. I know that no matter what she gets, she won't like it. Let her no there will be no more returns.
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Reply to JustAnon
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My mother was never satisfied with ANYTHING she purchased, ever. She made a hobby of bringing things back to the store, in fact, including a beef roast BONE she'd say was very tough. When she lived in AL, she'd get the mini bus driver to take her back to the specialty shoe store to return the "ugly" shoes I insisted she wear to cut down on the endless falls she'd take! She'd write to companies like Oil of Olay for instance, complaining about some minutiae in the cream (that wasn't true) so that they'd send her a coupon for a free jar! And on and on.

By the time her dementia progressed, you can imagine that even the adjustable bed and mattress I'd gotten her was "a big POS". By then she was wheelchair bound and the mini bus driver didn't take requests, thank God. She was stuck with the Ugly Shoes and the Big POS of a Bed too. I no longer took back her purchases or entertained her hobby, those days were over. Buyers remorse was a thing of the past.

Make it clear to your mother there are No Returns on couches or anything else she buys anymore. That ship has sailed. Otherwise you agree to jump down the rabbit hole WITH her.
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Reply to lealonnie1
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It is time now for your mother, whose dementia is this far progressed, has no control of her finances and has a good conservator (if you are not already POA) managing finances for her. See an Elder Law attorney.
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Reply to AlvaDeer
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Happy flies out the window when dementia walks in the door.

Keep this in mind throughout this journey with mom. It isn't your job to keep her happy in the first place. You can't fix dementia and suddenly she's all moonbeams and butterflies. Once you accept that happy isn't possible, you can ratchet down to good enough IS possible, and that it's all you can achieve these days.

The mattress is firm, now you need to be! Try paying less attention to her complaining. I agree that Seroquel might be a big help.
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Reply to Fawnby
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funkygrandma59 Oct 25, 2025
Great line Fawnby...."The mattress is firm, now you need to be!" You are spot on.
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It is very frustrating. You'll just need to use the "therapeutic fib" that the store policy is "all sales final," or something similar.
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Reply to MG8522
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My Mom has started doing the same thing. So now I either ignore it when she wants something that she doesn't really need or I make up a reason why it can't be returned. Distract, redirect. I had to give her a different phone -- one that I control who she calls and who can call her -- because she was forgeting how to use her appliances and insisting they were defective, then haranguing me to return them or calling their customer service relentlessly. She couldn't make up her mind, so I made it up for her.

You are going to have to be in control and not let her take you on wild goose chases, since this is where it is mostly all going to go now. Her days of making purchase decisions is over unless you want to fight daily about it. Stop bringing it up, don't tell her your plans, etc. Distract, redirect, or walk out of the room.

I wish you success in drawing boundaries when it comes to dealing with her. She can't help it. Now you're the only one who can change.
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Reply to Geaton777
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In my experience, with two parents in their early 90s with dementia, I think they were aware of the loss of control they once had.

I felt the same way as you--that I could not make them happy.
But I learned, because of their dementia, I was burned out by thinking that I could!

I just could not beat this thing called dementia. It is cruel.

The parents I once had were different. No longer were they the rational adults in the house who were in charge. That role became mine.

But I did not want that role.

I think, in your case, it's not so much about the couch. It's about the dementia, the changes your mom is experiencing. The inability to make a decision. The concern. The fear. The confusion.

I might suggest this in each response I write, but the only thing that helped both my parents was Seroquel, with an as needed anti-anxiety.

It made them relaxed. It made them sleepy. But it made their lives more peaceful. And mine, too.
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Reply to DaughterofAD3
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