Someone stop the music. My feet hurt!

You know when you've danced to long and your feet just hurt so bad? 
That's how I feel sometimes.  I'm sure Mom feels that way too.

When Mom came to us, Alzheimer's grip on her was tight.  The steps to her dance were difficult but still doable.
Come evening, we had time to sit back and laugh at the retelling of the days events.  I'm not sure Mom ever connected that it was herself who had executed those amusing dance steps but she enjoyed the story non the less.

One of those events was when she came downstairs in the morning with all her clothes on.  Now when I say all, I mean every single piece of clothing to be found in her possession!
It was still cool outside and I thought she would layer her clothes due to the chill.  However, I soon learned that this was just another step in Mom's dance with Alzheimer's.  In fact, this is a very familiar step that many Alzheimer's victims are plagued with (or should I say, the caregivers are plagued with).
As I said, she had all her clothes on.  she looked like a football player dressed in full pads and their grandmas outfit.
When I first saw her I couldn't figure out why she looked so heavy and then I put my hand on her back to guide her into the kitchen and felt all the padding!  I instead, guided her back up the stairs to change.  As we climbed the stairs, I noticed how difficult it was for her.  It was the constriction of.....are you ready for this?

6 pair of pants (the smallest were on the outside and how she did that I will never know), 3 shirts, 2 sweaters, 3 pair of socks, 2 depends and her coat!
I kept pealing off layers and she kept telling me that she didn't do it.  Someone else did that to her.
Later that evening when we were all talking about it, she believed I was telling a funny story about someone else.  Mom said, "I didn't do that!" and just laughed.

There was also the time when I was standing at the kitchen sink and Mom went into the bathroom.  As she came back into the kitchen I turned and went to get something out of the fridge. She seemed perfectly normal. Mom walked over to the sink to wash her hands.  As I turned around, I noticed something amiss.  Mom stood at the sink in her coat, sleeves pushed up to her elbows, her shoes and her socks.  She had left her pants in the bathroom!  Fortunately for us, her coat is a bit on the long side.  It made a nice "mini-dress".
As we were re-dressing her, she said, "Oh I didn't do this, someone took them off me".


"Someone" is also responsible for untold amounts of paper towels and toilet paper, toys, headphones, ear rings, ear gauges (the grandson has holes in his earlobes...big ones!), q-tips, fruit, french fries and various articles of clothing, being stuck in her pockets.  Most of it, I catch, but the occasional paper towel will slip by unnoticed until the laundry is done!  I have learned a few tricks to keep "Soemone" at bay most of the time.

My husband has decided he would like to have "someone" start hanging out with him.  He thought it was a great excuse for just about anything!!!

Someone....the silent dance partner...
He will dance with you so long your feet will hurt. :)