Acting out a Namesake

imp

Senior Member
Another imponderable related to aging: I believe I've noted a tendency as folks age, that they seem to become more simplistic in some ways, and at some times, not a constant thing, though. Perhaps describable as a sort of childishness more apparent at some times than others.

My wife's Mother is a case in point. Her mind and attitude does not seem as fixated as has been usual over the years: staunch of conviction, strong-willed. She turned 90 two weeks ago, still drives to town herself several times a week. My wife and her sister note they are no longer comfortable with their Mom's driving habits. Her general atitude seems to have become a bit silly.

Is this typical in aging? I have no idea, myself, except to have noticed it, but it's subjective, not lending itself to actual concrete evaluation. imp
 

I guess you have to clarify silly. I remember talking to my brother one day about Dad's driving. He seemed to be more um...Mr. Magooish than he used to be. My brother reminded me that even ten years earlier Dad would be driving along and say " Oh I have a article I wanted to show you" and he'd turn away from the wheel still driving to grab the paper. Actually his driving hasn't changed much at all when I thought about it.
 

My Mom will be 85 this year. She started showing signs of senility in her mid-60s. I took care of her for a very long time, and she occasionally displayed extremely child-like behavior. Out of curiosity, I started checking her glucose levels and found a spike in her blood sugar occurred whenever she displayed those behaviors. She has not been diagnosed as diabetic, but when I reduced all forms of sugar in her diet, she had far fewer and less extreme incidences of that childish behavior.
 
Faze, that I will take into consideration, as both me and my wife had recorded higher than usual blood sugar this past time, and I know definitely that I have been more giddy, lately, than usual. :playful:

imp
 
Another imponderable related to aging: I believe I've noted a tendency as folks age, that they seem to become more simplistic in some ways, and at some times, not a constant thing, though. Perhaps describable as a sort of childishness more apparent at some times than others.

My wife's Mother is a case in point. Her mind and attitude does not seem as fixated as has been usual over the years: staunch of conviction, strong-willed. She turned 90 two weeks ago, still drives to town herself several times a week. My wife and her sister note they are no longer comfortable with their Mom's driving habits. Her general atitude seems to have become a bit silly.

Is this typical in aging? I have no idea, myself, except to have noticed it, but it's subjective, not lending itself to actual concrete evaluation. imp

Imp, I'm sorry, but I don't understand the title of your post. "Namesake?"
 
I love silly, life is a very serious business. Perhaps Imp, your mother (providing she is not showing signs of dementia) is simply embracing her fun side. Being staunch is a lot of work. Silliness has multiple health benefits. Much better than the terminal rectal cranial inversion that affects so many after fifty, no, make that forty!
 
Imp, I'm sorry, but I don't understand the title of your post. "Namesake?"

Glad you brought that up, Butterfly. It needed to be answered, as I've been wondering about it myself. Truthfully, I am not sure what I was referencing when I titled the darned thread. Maybe my username, maybe the silliness of dementia......,

Ah! It just struck me! Aimed at grabbing attention, like a T-V commercial! imp
 
Possibly that after 90 something you get more silly or giddy, I mean what the heck you're counting your days Whaaahooooo!

This is exactly what I asked my wife about today: her Mom just turned 90, no end in sight, drives to town, attends senior meetings, Red Hats, plays cards, dominos with all the old farts, I've wondered what thoughts about leaving this existence cross the mind of one so old, but yet so active.

My wife explained as best she could: Yes, her Mom talks about dying, not often, not everyday. Her talk about it surrounds mundane, relatively unimportant things (to the likes of us!): what about my cat. The newspapers will pile up out front. My car needs.....Make sure my hair looks OK. She is truly an amazing woman, but I hate her ideals, quibbled with her over the years about politics, and yet know by her demeanor, I am still the chosen son in law out of three, for what reason(s) I am not certain.

The best possible resolution to our family dilemmas would be for ME to croak while she's alive..... imp
 


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