Happy Thanksgiving, Blogfriends!
I head off to work in half an hour, this Thanksgiving morning, to make toilet-paper-roll turkeys.
You may recall, last week the residents and I, with the help of several 3-to-4 year olds from the childcare downstairs, made snowmen out of toilet paper rolls, like this one>
These snowmen have disappeared.
The idea had been to make Thanksgiving decorations for the dining room tables Downstairs, as requested by the concierge (truly this woman's job title) –– Downstairs, that is, where the regular grown-ups sit: the grown-ups whose brains still care about proper table centerpieces.
Our snowmen ended up looking demented (naturally) but adorable, so three residents and I took them Downstairs.
"Hi!" I said. "We've made decorations like the concierge asked us to."
I head off to work in half an hour, this Thanksgiving morning, to make toilet-paper-roll turkeys.
You may recall, last week the residents and I, with the help of several 3-to-4 year olds from the childcare downstairs, made snowmen out of toilet paper rolls, like this one>These snowmen have disappeared.
The idea had been to make Thanksgiving decorations for the dining room tables Downstairs, as requested by the concierge (truly this woman's job title) –– Downstairs, that is, where the regular grown-ups sit: the grown-ups whose brains still care about proper table centerpieces.
Our snowmen ended up looking demented (naturally) but adorable, so three residents and I took them Downstairs.
As we were placing them around the dining room tables, the new kitchen manager, whom I haven't met yet, came out of the kitchen.
He stood there, nervously, staring at us.
"Hi!" I said. "We've made decorations like the concierge asked us to."
"Oh!" he said, relieved, "you're watching over them."
The light dawned: he'd thought all four of us had escaped from Memory Care.
Obviously my plan to appear like Shirley Schmidt on Boston Legal has failed: I must at least get some less rumpled work clothes.
When I came into work two days later, the snowmen had disappeared.
Melted, I suppose...
Melted, I suppose...
So, my cunning plan is, this morning we shall make turkeys out of tp rolls to replace the snowmen.
________________
[Btw, I microwave the rolls to sanitize them (for 1 minute, not 2, since I discovered cardboard catches fire), and wrap them in construction paper before anyone works on them.]
You have a touch for telling a good story. I'm still giggling.
ReplyDelete"'Oh!' he said, relieved, 'you're watching over them.'"
ReplyDeleteIt's his "them" that bugs me. Is it as patronizing as it sounds?
I like the snowman's bowtie and smile.
Also: Happy Thanksgiving!
I hope the turkeys were fun and that you had a Thanksgiving to remember (even if your dear residents won't recall it)!
ReplyDeleteI hope you'll post pictures of the paper roll turkeys. :)
ReplyDeleteHappy belated Thanksgiving!
ZHOEN: Happy to provide giggles. :)
ReplyDeleteMICHAEL: Yes! So patronizing!
Some people w/out dementia don't know what to do with people with dementia... One thing they do is talk as if they weren't there. Maddening!
One son (visiting at T-giving) was doing that right in front of his mother at the dining-room table-talking to me *about her* as if she couldn't hear.
I kept trying to include her in the conversation, but he wouldn't budge.
I wonder if the place where I work could do more family education... It might not help, but it might.
DEANNA: The turkeys were fun, thanks!
TINTO: I keep forgetting to take my camera in to work. I decided not to photograph the residents (technically we're not supposed to for privacy, but the place I work takes & posts photos on FB!) but I do want to record the results of our activities.