Interesting reading.

My grandmother, over the past 3 months, has accused me of: - Her milk tastes funny, I must have tampered with it. - Her juice tastes funny, I must have tampered with it. - Her finances are off, I must be stealing from her, or the bank is in error. - Her OJ container was on the bottom shelf of the fridge, how did it get there? (She puts her groceries away, so don't ask me! At most, I'll put her new container of milk behind the old one.

Also....my mom got her a new phone. And a new walker.

The walker has wheels. 3 days now, she won't use it. She doesn't like the tray. Her knees hurt, she's too tired.

She's not too tired to clean out the sugar bowl, wash every bit of laundry that needs to be washed, empty every trash bag in the house.

She does atleast use the walker bag thing on the old walker. But still refuses to carry around the phone. We had drama here last week because she would not let her stupid grandchild program the phone's answering machine etc. (rolling eyes). I was also too stupid to be able to pick up the prescription for her new walker. Like I could not find the front desk at the medical center I used to go to, also.

Hi DolphinsCry,

Ouch. There is nothing harder to bear than harsh words from someone you love. But you now need to grow a thick skin to defend yourself from her hurtful comments. Trust me, I know about this.

As my Mom's personality changed with age, she too became more paranoid and angry about things that would never have upset her before. One thing we did was to speak with her physician. We found out that she was actually having a reaction to one of her medications, a beta-blocker, and that frequently elderly patients have these mood and personality changes due to their medications. You might want to talk with your grandmother's doctor. It sounds like something has changed with her in the past 3 months, and it might be correctable.

If it turns out that Grandma is just being difficult, you may have to come to grips with the possibility that these changes come with her getting older. With my Mom, she will occasionally lash out just to see if she can get a rise out of me. I used to fall for this all the time; she has no real amusement in her life, so she'd bait me into a fight. One of my sisters finally pointed out to me that I was the only one in the family she did this with; everyone else refused to argue with her. Eventually I learned to smile and say to her, "Sorry, Mom. You can't make me mad." That became my standard response and she finally got tired of that game (tho she still tries it once in a while). If she's truly in an ugly mood, I give her a kiss (if she'll let me) and say, "Gotta go. I hope you're in a better mood when I see you again."

No matter how difficult Grandma is being with you, keep your head. Take a deep breath, remember that your life is not HER life, and don't let her get under your skin. Be courteous and loving, and when it gets too tough, walk away for a while.

Good luck to you and your family. You'll be in my thoughts and prayers.

Hi Cece,

Actually, I'm moving out really soon. My breaking point was reached in July (long story, it's posted in a thread called Moving, moving, moving).

I wish it was as simple as being her medication, but her treatment of me is nothing new.

No more "taking it", no more Enabling it.

Thursday is my big day....I will find out if my Florida Real Estate application is approved or not. Otherwise, November 9th, I will be driving to Nashville to look into jobs and apartments there. I won't even live within an hour of my grandmother now (not to mention there are no jobs here in Michigan).