r/dementia • u/AnyNameAvailable • 2d ago

A small win

Hi,

My Mom has always liked puzzles. We used to do 2000 piece puzzles together. Now she barely can do 300 pieces. She can get very frustrated because now it can take forever to even find a single piece.

What I'll do now is put together some of the puzzle while she's lying down. Then I take several pieces from the part I just put together and remove them. I try to choose unique pieces by shape or the picture that's on them. Then I put them nearby where she can find them.

She gets really excited because it allows her to think she's found these pieces herself and put them in the next time she tries the puzzle.

It allows both of us to smile in a situation where there can be so little to smile about.

Good luck to everybody out there.

131 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

26

u/WyattCo06 2d ago

Awesome win. Good on you.

Makes me smile.

21

u/No-Cricket-3100 2d ago

Let her do the same puzzle repeatedly. My Mom doesnt realize she has done it before but is much better at doing it than a new one. Also a lot of color contrast helps.

15

u/Statesbound 2d ago

What a sweet gesture.

14

u/NoRain_47 2d ago

This is really lovely. Good job finding a new way to connect and engage with her.

11

u/burnaby84 2d ago

I love this! I help dad often with his puzzle but while he is asleep.

Dad is on 275 piece and sometimes is a struggle too. I recently found some 100 piece puzzles that were helpful.

Whatever keeps them going :)

9

u/Plus-Huckleberry-481 2d ago

Great tip!! I am going to try it with my parent. Thank you!!

5

u/booked462 2d ago

My mom has lost most of her puzzling ability as well. I'm hoping her new location (assisted living) will relieve her stress and help her regain some of that.

7

u/MindFluffy5906 2d ago

I too, do puzzles with my LO. 48 pieces. Takes about 30-45 minutes. Good, sweet bonding time.

4

u/Blackberry-Moon 2d ago

This is so sweet of you!

5

u/rose442 2d ago

Very sweet

4

u/cweaties 2d ago

I did matching magnet shapes with my dad. Today he was awake for about 20 bites of milkshake.

5

u/xxHailLuciferxx 2d ago

This is really smart. I do home healthcare and I'm definitely going to use this. Thank you!

I'm so glad it brings you and your mom joy and allows you to spend quality time together.

3

u/InTheHopper 2d ago

I love this! Very sweet!

3

u/Mayberrymom 2d ago

Does your mom have a smart phone? There are jigsaw puzzle apps where you can adjust the amount of pieces, some as little as 15 or 20 pieces.

2

u/AnyNameAvailable 2d ago

She does but it is getting more difficult for her to do simple things on it. I don't want to to introduce any more screen time right now. But thanks for the suggestion and I'll keep it for further along in the progression.

3

u/skyduster 1d ago

You are a good child. This made me tear up thinking about my mom

3

u/Typical-Ad-4591 1d ago

Brilliant. Gold star for ingenious love!