Gifts for 85 y.o. FiL with dementia

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Give him music (top 40 hits) from when he was about ages 2-25.

DH and I discussed this. Thinking music from 50s-60s, from his teens into his early years of marriage. MiL will also enjoy that and may end up as prompts for conversation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Music. My grandfather liked listening to music/songs from the 40s and 50s in his last few years. Create a playlist of his favorite music or however he can access music.

Yes, DH and I just discussed creating some playlists. He will not be able to play them but DH's mom can. Also bought a portable speaker.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Laurence Welk Show on DVD-- you don't need to follow a plot for that, it's just a variety show with a lot of music and dancing.

See if he has any favorite restaurants, and get it delivered. Some restaurants will sell you partly-cooked food that you bake at home, like lasagna or whatever. My grandparents loved when I would pick up traditional Italian cookies from an old-fashioned bakery, it was a whole ritual with a cup of coffee and the nice little plates, untying the string and opening the box and seeing the variety of cookies. You don't need to have memory to enjoy some delightful cookies.

Lawrence Welk was not really my ILs' scene, though it was definitely my GPs' scene. They talked forever about seeing a show taped when visiting one of their daughters on the West Coast.

My ILs are Jewish, but my FiL is not really taken with that cuisine. But there are lots of other foods he loves.

TY!

[Anonymous]

There is a robot cat that my dad loved when he was suffering from advanced alzeheimer's you can google it or look on amazon. It purrs when you pet it

[Anonymous]

A Liquid Motion toy-- everyone likes those. I have one on my desk at work and people are fascinated by it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Music for sure.

Old man food. My grandpa loved sardines, horseradish, a nice dark rye bread, basically anything you can think of that's stereotypically old man food.

Oh and premium orange juice. Basically anything he liked to eat that was even sort of healthy, we got him. Older people sometimes don't have as sensitive taste buds, so strong flavors are good.

Ice cream. Old people go wild for ice cream for some reason.

[Anonymous]

Two things we did (aside from the picture book idea) -

1) Ask people from his life (at all stages) to make a short video of a message to him or their favorite memories with him. Then, put it into a larger video. It turned out amazing - seeing the people in video and hearing their voices really impacted him.

2) If they like to wear dress shirts/clothes but find buttons tough - Magna Ready's stuff is awesome. It gives a sense of independence and wearing what they "used" to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Music for sure.

Old man food. My grandpa loved sardines, horseradish, a nice dark rye bread, basically anything you can think of that's stereotypically old man food.

Oh and premium orange juice. Basically anything he liked to eat that was even sort of healthy, we got him. Older people sometimes don't have as sensitive taste buds, so strong flavors are good.

Ice cream. Old people go wild for ice cream for some reason.

+1

Milkshakes, cookies, and time with you. Maybe even reading poetry to him too while he enjoys the treat.

[Anonymous]

What about a wifi enabled picture frame that you can upload pictures to? My mom loves to see the new pictures we’ve added.

[Anonymous]

Bird feeder that suctions to window or hangs right outside it in view of where he spends most of the day. And someone to fill it for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about a wifi enabled picture frame that you can upload pictures to? My mom loves to see the new pictures we’ve added.

We already did that as mentioned in OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bird feeder that suctions to window or hangs right outside it in view of where he spends most of the day. And someone to fill it for him.

This might work. MiL would also like it. TY.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a robot cat that my dad loved when he was suffering from advanced alzeheimer's you can google it or look on amazon. It purrs when you pet it

OMG my BIL got my sister one of these as a joke this past Christmas, as he's highly allergic to cats and her cat went to her ex in the divorce anyway. Talk about the uncanny valley -- it's creepy AF. But if he was ever into cats (or might be into one now), it's definitely interactive.

https://a.co/d/d1ZKzRj

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bird feeder that suctions to window or hangs right outside it in view of where he spends most of the day. And someone to fill it for him.

This might work. MiL would also like it. TY.

Please don't do this, as it's likely to increase the risk of bird strikes on the window (and most birds who strike windows end up dying). Also, then there's the mess on the ground, the attractant to mice/rats of spilled seed, etc. It's just a giant hassle and no good for anyone, including the birds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a robot cat that my dad loved when he was suffering from advanced alzeheimer's you can google it or look on amazon. It purrs when you pet it

OMG my BIL got my sister one of these as a joke this past Christmas, as he's highly allergic to cats and her cat went to her ex in the divorce anyway. Talk about the uncanny valley -- it's creepy AF. But if he was ever into cats (or might be into one now), it's definitely interactive.

https://a.co/d/d1ZKzRj

ILs have a very young dog, so passing.