Dishes

Lily loves to do dishes which used to be a great thing.  We just had to make sure her glasses were on and life was good.  The last few months it has become increasingly evident that she is forgetting some basic elements.

First it started with forgetting to make sure the water was hot.  Not such a big deal.  I would just always try to check the water temperature.  Then came the soap.  Initially she just used way too much and we were constantly running out of dish soap which was not a big deal.  However, then she started to line up the glasses and put soap into each glass.  No problem except try rinsing a glass which you have put even a drop of soap.

It takes some time for the water to run clear.  Of course Lily would not run the water till clear and everytime we would fill our glasses up with water we always had a "foam head."  Good for clearing the bowels, not good for the taste buds, lol.  So then we started to hide the soap and I would add it for her to do the dishes.  Oh and did I tell you Lily cannot stand even a fork in the sink.  Everything has to be washed immediately possibly because this is one area of her life where she feels confident and has control.  Unfortunately I am not always in the kitchen to catch this and we would find her washing dishes with NO soap.  Just rinsing or filling the sink with hot or lukewarm water.  So we had to come up with an idea.  That is the thing with Alzheimers.  It does no good to get mad or try to change their behavior you just have to adapt.  Think, Think, Think and come up with a new strategy which is what I did.

So now when we leave the kitchen I place this cardboard insert over the sink and Mom does not do the dishes.  When there is a stack, miraculously we have soap, I remove the insert and Lily is happy.