I thought that Dad was over this from last year when his clocks, phone, dresser drawer, rocking chair... anything that was able to be "readjusted" or "fixed" was lying in pieces in his room...

He's at it again. When we walked in for the visit, he was in the process of disassembling his walker. I am not at all sure where the screwdriver he had "fixing it" came from, but it was a long, thin flat head screwdriver that I sneaked back to the nurses station while he dined.

He had also "repaired" a knee brace, by cutting out the entire knee part, gluing it back together with airplane glue held by large paperclips, (where's he getting this stuff?).

He managed to get all the paperclips out and the brace held together, until the seams burst, which was, hopefully, five minutes after we left...

Anyone going or gone through this particular phase? Like I said, I saw it last year when Mon was sick. It stopped after she passed but it seems to be rearing up again.

He's got a planning meeting here in a week or so. I'm gonna ask where all his tools keep coming from. He has a pair of scissors, too, which he claims to need to open up candy wrappers. He still has them for now... I hate to take everything away from him like he was a toddler, but I don't want him to hurt himself. He cant see for crud.

hey Lammie...my dad does this too but on a smaller scale..flashlights, shoes strings, razor blades (mom made the mistake of taking him a disposable and he tried to take the blades out ) so I think this is pretty common, especially with men...so I bought my dad some lego cars to put together and told him they were for his great grandson...kept him busy for about 1/2hour...ha

I don't understand how your dad is getting all of his "tools" except they all seem to get things from one another....i would definetly tell the aides to get the scissors out of there.

kim

Lammie,

If he isn't a danger and he is entertaining himself, what is the problem? Perhaps you or a handy friend could make him the equivalent of a child's "busy board" with things that could be detached and reattached etc. I have been encouraging mom's knitting and it has been beneficial.

Susan

quote:

If he isn't a danger and he is entertaining himself, what is the problem?

Agree in principle - but I will say, if he's got sharp (vs kiddie or safety scissors) and a screwdriver, I'd be quite concerned.

For example, my mom has trouble reaching her ankle to scratch it. She would be very likely to use scissors or a screwdriver to scratch if she had them, and would not notice blood running down her leg or think it was a problem if she did notice.

And the glue - if it's anything but non-toxic, I'd be worried there, too. Mom rubs all kinds of things on her leg because "it keeps it healthy" - mayo, body wash, perfume, etc, etc. Basically anything liquid or lotion-y. I'm sure she would rub airplane glue on there if she had it.

I have to tell ya ... I read your post ealier today and it just made me giggle. (My LO & I were having a rough time and I escaped to this forum.)

Now, I know this must be rough for you. I certainly wouldn't want to make light of it!

Did you ever think about going to a flea market or garage sales to find things he could work on? I don't know ... like a toy train, an old rocking chair, a (non-electric) radio? I bet you could find some things for pennies that he could tinker with.

I wish my LO had an interest in something like that. Maybe if you gave him something, he'd leave the good stuff alone.

(But it is odd where he finds the stuff to "repair" with.)

I'd love to hear if you try this!

It's always been hard to find "meaningful" things for him to do. He isn't at the point yet where he wants just busywork, and he can spot a toy a mile off. He won't even do the Wii in PT. He's all but blind. Can't read and was never a big reader anyway. He's not interested in large print. Model airplanes are a double challenge. He's very arthritic and can't see well, so it is more frustrating. Same with puzzles.

I would like it if the NH would give him something to do, like paint a wall or sand some wood. I know that's a liability for them, though. Maybe I will take some wook scraps up there with some sand paper and have the activity director put him to work when he gets too bored. If it's a nice day he can sand outside... That's just one thing, though.

It's just hard. He's bored. He's not child like yet, but his hands and eyes no longer work well.

And to answer the question of where his tools come from, the maintenance guy they have there isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, if you know what I mean, and I'm sure Dad just takes what he needs... He used to be a maintenance man at a NH.

Hi Lammie,
When I was reading your post I thought about the simple projects Lowes does for kids. If you could find birdhouses that go together with wooden pegs and a rubber hammer he could make lots of Christmas gifts. The peg centers could be painted a bright color and you could could use quarter to half inch pegs.
Frog

Thanks. I will look into that. I was hesitant to do this because I feared he would take it as an insult but I think it might be better for him to have something to do. He's got enough room in his room to set up a table with a bright light.

I guess we can try it and see if he really wants something to do and get an idea of what he can do at this stage.

The thing I can remember about his last year at home was that he had half started projects everywhere and he was always cutting himself on something.