Why is my mom doing this?

From my experience I notice years ago my mother started to make the conversation about her no matter what I said and she was repeating herself telling me the same old stories. Furthermore, my dad was telling me just little things that my mother did or didn't do. At the time, I just thought my parents were growing apart so I didn't put much thought into it. And when my mother was calling me telling on my dad again I just thought they were having problems, and this was nothing new for my mother to say, "your dad did this or that." Yes, she drove me nuts and I would get annoyed with her.

Now hind sight being 20/20 it was the start of dementia. I am not saying this is the case with your mom, however, I would get her check out just to be safe. I know for myself, I wish I knew than what I know now I could of handle thing much better for her, my dad, and myself.

Just my 2 cents!
I wish you the best of luck.

I am trying very, very hard not ever to get myself into your mother's situation. But I can tell you one thing - it's all very well knowing that the trap is ahead, but that doesn't mean it's easy to avoid.

You encouraged her to develop a stronger social network. Absolutely! I agree! That's what I'm doing, too (though God knows preferably not by acquiring another husband). But, so, in what way did you encourage her? Did you do anything beyond saying that it was a good idea?

From your mother's perspective: it's one of the mixed blessings of motherhood that nothing and nobody is ever again as interesting or as important as your children. You want them to grow and fly away, of course you do: that's the whole point of the exercise, it's how you know you've done your job. But then... what do you do with your empty nest? And how do you stay connected not too much and not too little but just right..? It isn't easy, you know.

Anyway. Your mother is 71. She shouldn't be declining, unless there are other factors you haven't mentioned (what's all this about the appointments? - or weren't you listening?! - ho ho only joking). But she may well be extremely depressed, especially if she has become isolated.

Btw - the early death of her second husband was very bad luck. How would you say she dealt with that experience?

Are you in touch with anybody else who knows your mother reasonably well?

Wow. You just described my mother to a T. And it started when she was about your mother's age--when my father died of lung cancer. The bad news is that she is now 89 and still telling the same stories!
Over the years I've become pretty good at avoiding the triggers that get her started on one story or another. For example, I never say any combination of the words "homemade" and "chicken salad," because that would trigger the story about how many years ago she made chicken salad for the 4H and how she shredded the chicken by hand, and it took all day to make, and everyone said it was the best chicken salad they every tasted, and then they had the nerve to ask her to make more for the next day. (Mom's stories always end with her being put-upon, or insulted, or disrespected.)

I've tried redirecting her when she gets started, but that doesn't always work, because she'll go right back to where she left off. 
At some point you will get used to it and just tune it out.  Good luck!

I don't think there's any effective remedy for what you describe, OhBoy. Mom hijacked conversations for as long as I can remember, turning the focus on to herself. Or, she'd begin an oft-told story like she was telling it for the first time, and we (family) would think, "Oh, no, here she goes again." And like one other poster mentioned, the story usually concluded with Mom being put upon in someway, used, or taken advantage of. When Mom would tell these stories, I had to suppress the urge to move my lips as she spoke. I knew them verbatim.

I use past tense because now, in mid-stage dementia, Mom can't remember her stories, which is something of a relief, but of course the dementia brought with it a whole new set of problems. One thing I did notice is the redundancy reached its zenith at the earliest stage of her dementia, some ten years ago. The self-absorption can be a personality issue; on the other hand, as people age, whether by design or accident, their world tends to grow smaller and their lives more insulated, thus the focus on themselves.

In the case of conversational hijacking, I think Mom was trying to relate to the speaker by sharing her experience, not realizing she was actually taking over and sometimes not giving the speaker the chance to relate their own experience. Then she'd say later, "No one told me that!" And I'd say "Yes, Mom, they did!" In retrospect, it may be I thought she'd been in on a conversation when in fact she'd cut in and the speaker never got the chance to finish. Ha!

Again, our family never found a good way to get around this persistent aspect of Mom's personality. Year by year, the focus became more and more about her, until that's all there was. At 93 with dementia, she can't tell you one thing about another family member that isn't confabulation. She doesn't tell her old stories any more because she can't remember them. So she just complains about everything and everybody. As years march on, I'm trying my best to challenge my brain, expand my interests and never stop learning; keeping in mind not everybody is fascinated by my anecdotes. I don't mean this in an unsympathetic way. As my dear dad used to say, aging ain't for sissies.

As someone else suggested you may consider having your Mom checked by a neurologist to rule out dementia. An early diagnosis can be helpful in terms of planning.

OhBoy, Regarding possible neurologic testing, here's how my family handled it, keeping in mind of course that mom at that time was already in early stage dementia and had difficulty connecting the dots: We took her to her primary physician for a "routine checkup" because it had been awhile. Just prior to the appointment, I discreetly handed a note to the receptionist (addressed to the doctor) requesting either a mini-mental exam and/or a neurology referral. The general practitioner didn't administer a mini-mental exam but referred her, and the rest is history. Mom didn't seem to question the referral. She asked me on the way, "Now, why are we going to see this doctor?" And I answered very casually, "Oh, Dr. Smith just wanted to have all your neurologic functions checked out," which Mom comfortably accepted. The neurologist did some reflex tests, asked Mom a few questions, ordered an MRI plus some other tests, and 4 weeks later at a followup appt. we got the vascular dementia diagnosis. Then a PET scan was ordered that confirmed Alzheimer's as well. Mom took the diagnoses in stride. Now, 2 years later, she totally denies these diagnoses and thinks she just has "a little memory problem."

OhBoy, here I go again.

Challenging everything we said was among the first signs of mom' dementia, before it was diagnosed. She would tell some B.S. story, expecting us to nod our heads and agree. We learned not to challenge her stories; doing so resulted in meltdowns. With one exception; when she says awful, untrue things about family, friends, or loved ones. She doesn't get away with that, meltdown or not.

I'm not saying your mom has dementia, only that the behavior you describe sounds like my mom's.

I have problem telling the same thing but...I can never remember which daughter I told. So now I ask, did I tell, you? Or my girls will say, u already told me. 😊 I am 69.

Our world is not like it was even 50 yrs ago. I grew up with lots of cousins, my Dad was one of 8. These same cousins now live all over the country. Why, because that is where they could find jobs. The industry in my area has gone by the wayside. Cousins my daughters' age live in GA or NC. (I am in NJ) There's a 17 yr difference between my oldest and my brother's oldest. Nothing in common there. Like you said, your kids are off to College doing their own thing and you want to be there. One day they will be getting jobs, marrying and having kids. Most families live on two salaries now unlike your Moms time. Work and kids don't leave much time in a day. Then there's having to move away from family for a job. There no longer is that family support. There's not that Bond. My Mom babysat for my kids as I do for my grands. Bonding time. My girls miss my Mom but not so much for my MIL who chose to move to Fla when my youngest was 4 and then complained when she visited that daughter didn't seem to want to be around her. Really MIL never bonded with daughter when she lived here. (MIL was passive agressive and my girls saw it early on)

Mom moved away. Did she have a relationship with your kids before she moved? If not, what makes her think she will now? Kids have lives of their own, sad but, if she was not involved in the last 14 yrs or before what makes her think they would be close now.

Out of 4 children, it was me who took care of Mom. I am not angry about it, the other two are boys and didn't handle Moms decline well. (My sister passed) Me either, but I was here. I hope my girls are there for me, but I don't expect it. I really have never expected anything out of them now they are adults on their own.

I have always felt that if an adult wants a relationship with a child, it is up to the adult to make the first move. Maybe the next time Mom brings up not seeing anyone enough, you say she chose to move to another state. That there can't be bonding between grandchildren and grandparents if the grandparent doesn't make the effort. That your children have lives of there own and you need to be a part of that as long as possible. That you told her 10 yrs ago she needed to get a support system in place. That if she had, she'd have new stories to tell. She is still healthy she needs to find a life. You cannot be her all.

OhBoy999, Sorry that it took me so long to get back with.

I have to say, it was a very long, slow, and a frustrated process! When I first notice my mother's behavior I didn't live with her. Whlie one day we were talking, I told her that she didn't seem like herself and that I was worried about her. That it could be dementia than I said quickly "wait mom" before you start going off their are medications, infections and not eatting right that can cause dementia, which can easily fix the problem. Her respone was "maybe, but I am find!" Than she hung up on me! That went well! Ugh!
About a year later, yes a year...she was not having it! My mother is Native American and her stubbornness is down to her bonemarror.
My dad died in between this time! Well, my BF & I moved in with her because I came to realize that she was not paying the house taxes dispite that she was telling me she was.
Before I moved in, she wouldn't let me into her house, which is my childhood home. She ended up in the hospital for a different reason, so while she was in the hospital my BF and I went to her house and what I found was "shocking." My mother was a very clean woman. But that was not what I found! The dirty dishes were piled up everywhere in the kitchen and in the sink in the basement. She has a dishwasher that was empty. The refrigerator was full to the max with molding food. The house was full of things that was bought from stores like St. Vincent, and things that you see must have been found off the side of the street. My dad made a good living and they always bought new furniture and what nots, so this was not normal. The worst part was her house smelled so bad because she took in feral cats that pee all over the carpet. (Again not normal) So, my BF and I went to town and cleaned the house, and because we have always had cats we knew what to use to clean the carpet to cut the smell down. When she came home from the hospital she was so happy about her house was clean, but when I said something about the smell she said, "I couldn't smell anything," which I knew she was lying!
When I told her she wasn't paying the taxes, she started crying and claim that "they" took her money but she could not come up with proof that she paid them. She lied!

After moving in we had a neighbor who did have Alz so I took my shot again. Started talking about our neighbor and told her that we should get her checked out because I notice that she was not remembering very well and repeating herself. She came back with...wait for it...my Dr said that I will never get dementia and he promised me! Being that at one time I was in the medical field I knew that was a lie. And once again she wasn't having it.

So, I got in touch with Alz.org which gave me someone to talk to and gave me information.

All awhile she was just right down uwful and nasty to me! I didn't know if it was because my dad wasn't here to protect me, or if it really was dementia!

I finally told her, "you know just because you are my mom doesn't give you a free pass to treat me like crap; I can't live this way anymore!" This statement I kept repeating over & over. Furthermore, she got herself into a financial situation that if I moved out she would lose the house & have to live in a section 8 apartment! I preyed a lot!

Then I found this forum and with the help of the people here, a therapist and by the grace of God. She finally agree to get tested!

The people here taught me to be persistent & not to give up! I had to be willing to let her be angry with me. But I was not going to let her self-destruct.

Feel free to ask me any questions that you might have!

I hope this is helpful!
Wish you the best of luck!

Hugs!!!

Maybe you can tell her about Ourtime.com, the senior dating service online!! She's still young at 71 and needs some companionship, so why not a date? Is she computer literate or is that something totally out of the question?

My step daughter is 27 years old and can chew the ear off a goat with the details she provides during a phone conversation. I don't think that's a sign of dementia, necessarily, but the constant repeating oneself definitely CAN be. My mother is 92 and has progressive dementia, diagnosed during a hospital stay. She will tell me the EXACT same thing 4 or 5 times during ONE 10 minute conversation. For example: Barbara called me today, did I tell you? And she will say that line another 4 times during the convo. The only way to know for sure if your mom is on the dementia path is to have her tested. You've gotten some great suggestions here re: how to go about doing that.

Some people, like my own mother, don't really want 'friends'.........they want family as friends, and nothing else. It's a co-dependent type of behavior for them to expect us to be their entertainment committee. I've stopped apologizing for my grown son & daughter in that they 'don't care' about grandma, or 'don't visit enough' or 'don't call enough'. It's up to THEM to cultivate the relationship with grandma, not me. I have ENOUGH on my plate being the 'only child' and in charge of mother's ALF care, finances, and about one million other things. I do the best I can; my children do the best they can, and the message is always the same: it's NOT ENOUGH. Which makes a person feel like doing NOTHING, you know?

In any event, it's sad that our mother's are lonely, I know. The question is, how much of our lives should be given up in order to keep them happy? And 'happy' is a relative word.........my mother is NEVER happy, really, no matter WHAT!!! Putting her in an Assisted Living Facility in 2014 was the best thing I could've done, in that she now has lots of activities to participate in, and other people to *complain about* associate with. Can you perhaps look into an independent senior apartment building for your mom? It may wind up making a HUGE difference in her quality of life.

Best of luck!!

OhBoy.........the independent senior apartment complexes (not assisted living) are NOT for the very old but for very active people who are looking for more connection with others & activities, etc. They are popping up everywhere & cater to the 55 year old and up crowd. The residents still drive, and cook/shop on their own, as there are no 'assistance' services available in such places. The one that just opened around here is more like a resort than an apartment complex, lol. Just a thought. Good luck!!