Dementia Decor

All I can say about this topic is WOW! Wait, I take that back. I can say something else. ‘You have to laugh at some of this dementia stuff or the weight of it will crush you.’ When we giggle over some of it occasionally, it is with love. Pure love! When my mom first moved into this condo she had asked me to help her decorate so that her condo looked like mine. I was flattered and determined to make her proud. I tried and tried but to no avail. Not long after, she started with the dementia decor and you just end up going with it. Using bubble wrap as a runner down the dining room table now makes me smile. Seeing the dining room chair backs decorated with hanging placemats, is perfectly fine. Seeing fake trees throughout the condo decorated with dangle earrings is creative. Seeing tooth flossing picks stuck in plants is artsy. She makes me see how pretty the aluminum foil that I took off her leftovers is, because it’s shiny. She made a beautiful bouquet out of clear plastic silverware in a vase and she admired it on her counter for months. Her granite kitchen counters that she thinks are ugly are covered with paper towels, pillow cases, scarves, towels and doilies. To her, those things drastically improve the look of those ugly brown counter tops. I mean, who really cares, right? As long as she’s happy, I’m happy! Recently, I noticed that there is a bath towel on the floor in front of the couch and a ceiling tile and bed pillows under her living room console table. Her dishwasher silverware rack is on the counter and she has a pair of scissors displayed in every room…lol. You know what? It just doesn’t matter. These are her things and they bring her comfort and make her happy in the exact spot that she put them. I’m not going to lie. It took me a while to get to this place of dementia decor acceptance, but I made it and I’m happy to be here! 🙂