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Mom suffers with depression and serious mobility issues. Yesterday her doctor suggested that she try moving her wake up time closer to 10AM. Mom often sleeps 'til 3PM. She is about 3 weeks into recovery from thyroid removal, so I'm sure this is impacting her sleep habits. She is also on a boatload of meds.

Mom has admitted to being bored and having nothing to wake up to. Dad isn't much better. He is on dialysis and often sleeps throughout the day. He gets bored and lonely because mom is still in bed. Mom is still trying to deal with dad being in 'end of life' treatments.

I'm looking for some activity ideas that do not require standing, bending, or kneeling. Mom crochets but was a little OCD, made a blanket a day for her great grand child... about 24 of them! My niece was like, "no more... please!"

I would love them to do some little chores when I'm off to work, but this seems to be beyond them at this point. Dad was an electrical engineer, mom a super stay at home mom, great cook, pretty much deriving joy in what she could do for her family. For years her doctor would tell her to find something that made her happy in herself, but she never really comprehended that.

Any thoughts?

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Sounds like your mom is good with her hands, is she able to learn a different type of handiwork like needle point or cross stitch etc? The craft stores are full of stuff that a person can sit down and do. The blankets she makes, can she donate them to a hospital for kids? How about making scarves, hats, sweaters for kids or adults to send to another country who need things like that? What about the bazaars they have off and on all year long, can she sell what she's making? Just a few things that might keep her thinking she's still helping someone somewhere, with what she does. If you have a church, I'd ask them if they have any kind of outreach to make little knitted hats for newborn babies, that might be fun for her.
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Mom has crafted for years. Had her own shop, did craft shows. Too disabled to do that now. She also made hats for cancer patients, mittens and scarves for needy kids. I'm afraid she's just not so interested right now. She usually gets up and watches the game show network. At this point mom could really use a purpose to go on. She watches dad deteriorate and grieves.
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This is just a suggestion, but many communities have a version of Family and Child Services. They are always *ALWAYS* looking for donations of thoughtful items for the kids that are removed from homes and placed in foster care. One of the big things here is security blankets. They accept anything that is well made, whether knitted, crocheted or sewn. Maybe if you talk to your mom about it, tell her she would be making some kids in a rough time a little happier by making them blankets. They don't need to be huge, and you might want to contact your local service to find out if there are any sizes they want in particular.

The other thing is, if she doesn't have one already, get her a computer. Doesn't have to be fancy, you can get an older one really cheap, and show her how to get online and send emails, or play simple games (my mom LOVES Kanzu and Bejeweled). There are tons of free sites she could get on with really simple games.

Another option is a pet. Doesn't have to be a dog that requires walking or a cat that has a litter box (altho both are excellent options), it could be a small aquarium with a few bright coloured fishies in it, or a bird or anything that she would like. It would give her something to do by taking care of them, and a reason to get up and do it.

You could try to get her watching a new show, my mom just about lives for Dr Who on BBCA now, when a couple of years ago she thought I was weird for watching it! (She fell in love with Matt Smith, says hes a giant puppydog of a human lol) She also loves Swamp People and Deadliest Catch and Duck Dynasty. She watches them whenever they come on, even if she has to wake up early for it!)

Depending on her mobility issues, you could also try to set up a weekly activity she might enjoy. A trip to the library, either for books or if there's a bookclub or garden club that may meet there, or even (since it's almost summer) to read to kids that might be there (our library has a program like that, anyone can sign up to come read a small book to the kids in the summer reading program, usually kids aged 4-8), a trip to a local museum or even just a park with pretty flowers to look at for a bit, or a duck pond to watch the ducks. If she can't do any of that because of the mobility issues, I'd say you might want to look into a scooter for her. She may resist the idea but once she's tried one and seen how much they help she'd probably love it!

Well this has been an enormous post. I hope some of these ideas help, or at least lead you to other ideas that might!
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