Makeup at night

MissOldMom

just wanted to share very briefly…

Got Mom all set up to do her nightly toothbrushing and night cream for her face thing, I normally let her do things on her own while I am definitely within earshot so she retains as much independence as possible.

She had a shower earlier today, very unusual. But it’s because she had not showered in several days and I talked her into doing one earlier in case she did not have the strength (which is common at night for her) to take one tonight.

She came into the bathroom, and when I checked on her about midway through where she normally would be, I caught her putting on eyeliner at around 7:15 PM.

Believe me, we are not going anywhere tomorrow and there is nowhere where mom would suspect she is going.

I casually ask “mom, how come you’re putting on eyeliner when you’re about to go to bed?”

her answer: “well , I might not remember to do it in the morning.”

So…completely logical. Also, no logical at all since there is nowhere that she goes on a Saturday nor anywhere where she goes on a regular basis during a normal week where she would need to look spiffy.

it’s just habit. And habit is a lot when it comes to memories in Alzheimer’s.

She was talking up a storm about her time in Europe with my kids and when I was born in the late 60s/early 70s with my children tonight. They are college age and, of course, would enjoy stories about Europe as they actually have an overseas trip summer with their father, and at the same time knowing they’ve never had any stories for themselves. I actually relish that moment because she really enjoyed talking to them about the things she saw and did.

and then later, the eyeliner.

And it doesn’t hurt me or anyone else. It doesn’t matter. It’s fine. She can put on eyeliner till the cows come home even if she has no place to go and no place the next day that it would not matter if she was wearing an eyeliner. It’s something she wanted to do. No harm. Let her.

so I guess the point of all this is it’s fine if your parent does something strange that doesn’t make any sense as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody. It certainly didn’t hurt her. It didn’t hurt my kids. It did not hurt me. She went to bed with the eyeliner on. Perfectly fine and dandy. No harm done.

And now I’m in the bath, listening to some instrumental music and happy that absolutely that she had conversations with my home from college kids and everyone laughed. And it wasn’t because of anything she said or did weird. It was because we had a good time.

SDianeL

Thank you for sharing this beautiful blessing. 💜

DonnaPJ

What a gift your mother gave you and your kids! The warmth of that memory will be there forever.

My kitchen has turned into a treasure hunt. I never know where I will find whatever I am looking for. And like you said who cares, no harm, no foul. My DH does the dishes and I am thankful for that. He is early stage 3-4. I'm taking each day at a time and each is different. There is much peace in that for now. I try not to look down the road too far.