To get in the holiday spirit...What are you getting for as Holiday gift for a LO with moderate dementia?

Practical or fun

Slippers, nap blankets, bed robes

Costume jewelry, special large size jigsaw puzzles or picture books

Give her a manicure or massage or curl her hair

Edible treats - favorite meal or box of candy

I'm loving these ideas, and may get the Potato Chip of the Month club for my Mom!!

Midkid, could you PM me a link if you bought this online? I'd like to see it; I've wanted to get something like that for my father for his holiday cards. Same issue - not enough room where he would sit in his chair, but something collapsible or tiltable would work.

Thanks!

I bought (as a family gift from all the sibs) a puzzle table that is much smaller than Mother's current oversized card table--she has it set up all the time and it makes her "sitting room" unusable, only one person can be in the room at a time--essentially keeping mother from ever having any visitors for more than 10-15 minutes.

The puzzle table tilts and she can more comfortably work her puzzles, it takes up very little room and she loves it! Plus, nobody had to DO anything. She has so many useless little ornaments and figurines all over her place...and candles and bath salts and slippers (none of which she can even use).

Great thread and great ideas! My father doesn't have dementia, surprisingly, at his age. Not sure about me though!

I'm getting some NatGeo special issues, such as the Ocean one, but now I'll check out DVDs as well. And who would have thought of a "potato chip club of the month"?

Like FF, I'll be getting clothes - more fleece lined flannel shirts and flannel lined pants. I've also seen a London Fog fleece lined throw that I'll check out; it'll be nice to snuggle underneath when he naps after meals.

On a less comfy level, I'm getting a few of the smaller rolling luggage carriers to pack for emergencies. When his power was interrupted during a storm earlier in this year, I had to scramble to get 4 - 5 days' worth of supplies ready. This time the "go" bag will already be prepared.

As to crackers and cookies, we've figured out a way to eat those on a dysphagia diet - smear them with applesauce. It softens the cookie which can then be eaten.

I'm anxious to see what other posters suggest; this is such an appropriate topic for this time of year.

And, if I may add, what are caregivers getting for yourselves?

I remember getting my Dad some new clothes. His beloved flannel shirts were getting too difficult for him to put on as they had become a bit small. Also got Dad a college sweater and college logo winter scarf.

And as HugeMom above had mentioned, crackers and cookies :)

You certainly are caring and creative! My mom (with dementia) was the sort of person who wasn’t happy unless she was unhappy. The only things she really liked were treats like crackers, cookies, etc. so I brought them all year and packed a special box for Christmas. Until she got too bad, we would also go visit her just before Christmas and the grandkids would decorate a little tree for her. Anything else was not appreciated and was returned to me.