I'm my Mommy.

 

   When I was younger, I read a book called, I'm My Mommy. It's a Sesame Street book about a young girl and her mother who exchange places for the day. I can't remember everything, but they go on an outing to the zoo. As a child I thought it was an entertaining read. It never occurred to me that something like that could actually happen.

   That's what Alzheimer's disease can do.

   Yesterday, my dad left for a long weekend with his siblings. They have been doing that every year since my grandparents died. They hadn't been able to get together the past few years due to Covid. Last year dad was not able to attend because mom has Alzheimer's and is unable to be alone for more than a few hours at a time and we had not been able to arrange care for her in his absence.

   My siblings and I agreed to each take a turn staying with mom. Yesterday was my turn. C and I had planned to take mom to the museum to see a Charles Schultz exhibit. I remembered that she liked the Peanuts cartoon. We were going to go out for lunch at a Mexican restaurant near my home and then I was going to take her to my house to meet Willow.

  I'd eaten out with her before, so I already knew what to do. She gets confused when she has too many choices, so it's best to narrow things down to a couple things she can choose from. She ordered a margarita then seemed a bit surprised when it arrived. She enjoyed her meal, but as usual couldn't finish it and we had to get a box.

   Then we went to the museum. Mom and I walked around the exhibit. I held her hand to keep her from walking away from me, just like in the book. Sometimes she tries to talk to strangers, and it gets a bit awkward. We looked at all the characters. She wanted to sit down on some couches in the exhibit. She sat there while I finished looking at things. There were some light tables where you could "draw" Peanuts characters by tracing over them using tracing paper and pencils that were provided. I went over and traced a few pictures, it was fun. I showed Mom what I did. She wanted to try. I led her over to an empty table, got a pencil and paper and showed her what to do. I held the paper while she traced. I had to help her a little bit, but she did a good job.

   There was another exhibit on the greatest generation. I thought Mom would enjoy that since it would be things she could still remember. She did.

   Then we went to my house so she could meet Willow. Mom loved playing with Willow. She wanted to cuddle, but Willow was feeling playful. I went into the kitchen to make a pasta salad to eat for dinner. Mom was trying to feed Willow her food as if they were treats. Once I finished cooking, I gave mom some treats to feed Willow. Then Mom went back to playing with her by getting her to chase a toy mouse on a string. Charles played a few songs for her on his guitar, and she enjoyed that. He promised to learn more songs so he could sing to her.

  C drove mom and me back to the apartment where my parents live. It was a good day. Mom told me she would babysit Willow anytime I needed someone to care for her. 

   It was a good day. All during the day, I held Mom's hand. I found bathrooms for her when she needed them and reminded her to wash her hands, just like the little girl in the book who traded places with her mother when they went on an outing to the zoo. The difference is that unlike the book, the role reversal won't stop. This is my life with mom now.