AlzAuthors

 Today I am thrilled to announce that I am an official AlzAuthor!

AlzAuthors.com is an amazing community of authors and bloggers who are all working to raising awareness of Alzheimer's Disease and other forms of Dementia. There is even a podcast.

Sadly, until we are confronted by the disease itself, many of us know very little about dementia. This was certainly the case for our family. We have learned the hard way and wish we'd known about resources like this site earlier!

The various forms of dementia present in a variety of ways and of course each person is unique. These are some of the reasons the disease can be difficult to identify. The resources at the main site are boundless and incredibly helpful. I hope you'll check it out.

My book Dancing With Dementia is now a part of the AlzAuthors collection of resources. I'm proud to be part of an incredible group of talented authors who have used their experiences to reach out and help others.

I have a post on the AlzAuthors blog today as I join the community. I hope you'll visit the website for more details. I'm sure you'll find something to help you and your family along this journey!

Self-Care 2

Being a caregiver is often exhausting. Both physically and emotionally.

Caregivers need to take care of themselves. It's a cliche for a reason, but you can't get water from a dry well.

Keeping ourselves in good shape emotionally and physically can be a challenge.

Today, let's talk about how to do some easy at-home self-care by being silly.

Here are a few things you can search for online that might get you and maybe even your Loved One in a silly mood.

• baby goat videos
• goat sings Whitney Houston (trust me on this one!)
• jokes for kids
• knock knock jokes - if your Loved One is still able to read, have them do the reading while you do the answer part, they'll enjoy it more
• silly jokes about summer (winter, Christmas, birthdays, Halloween, sports, food...)
• blooper reels for your favourite TV shows or movies
• kids laughing
• sports gone wrong
• pandas
• silly animals

(Photo by Antevasin Nguyen on Unsplash)

Of course, you don't have to go online to get silly.

• have a dance party to music from all different generations and styles (Lizzie is in a wheelchair but she still loves to dance!)
• talk about memories of silly times
• sing songs from childhood (Row your boat, Doh a Deer, Itsy Bitsy...) and make up the words if you can't remember them
• draw silly pictures (combine an alligator & mouse into a new animal, draw a squiggle & turn it into a picture)
• write a silly story and add in drawings (Once upon a time there was a raccoon who wanted to meet Lizzie for tea...)
• tongue twisters (red leather, yellow leather always gets me!)
• limericks (There is a young lady named Lizze, who keeps her daughter in a tizzy, they love to sing songs, the shorts & the longs, and Lizzie keeps everyone busy!). Obviously they don't have to be perfect!

There's really nothing quite as healing as a good belly laugh!

Check out the book Dancing With Dementia for more easy self-care tips.

How about you? Any more ideas about silly things to search for? Any other ways to get a good belly laugh?