The other day I’m talking to my mother on the phone. We’re having a fairly coherent conversation about this and that – the weather, last night’s dinner, the weather. Mom wears hearing aids and sometimes when she is on the phone…rather than helping her hear, they compound the problem.
Earlier, my brother had told me about a particularly insulting conversation she’d had with him a couple days ago (reference ‘vascular dementia’ and no social filter). Her remarks had been completely off-base and pushed him to the limit of his patience (not the first time). Rightly so, he was upset.
So, she and I are talking and I say, “You know, Mom, you were very rude to Carl the other day.”
“What? I can’t hear you.”
“You were rude to Carl. He does so much for you.”
“Huh? Didn’t catch that.”
“Mom!”
“Hardly hear you.”
“You were nasty. Did you hear that?”
“Something’s wrong with the phone.”
“Why can’t you be nice?”
“Huh? What? Damn phone!”
Sometimes, I have to wonder if she’s simply getting us all back for bad behavior when we were younger. I still recall her admonishing back then, “You only hear what you want to hear.”
And on that, here’s a great link for caregivers – Caregivers…a universal occupation
http://www.caregiver.org/caregiver/jsp/content_node.jsp?nodeid=2313
Family Caregiver Alliance
Here is a Kiss ... Mom & Dad 
OMG, I just shook my head as I read this. I really think you and I were sisters in a former life and we might even have the same mother….. I now sit on my exercise bicycle when I call her, put my phone on “speaker” and pump away while she prattles on and on about the weather, Wal-Mart, the weather. Everyonce in a while, I’ll say “no kidding?” and that keeps her going for another 10 minutes. When I do have something to ask her, 4 times out of 5, she doesn’t hear the question….
Love you, Sis!!