Getting hard to watch TV

[chickenlady]

Lovely, carry on giggling, its important as a release for stress. My Mum has obviously watched something over Christmas involving a deep dark forest, she's now fixated with going out into the forest to die. We have to giggle, there are now forests near her.

 

[Tomsamsmum]

Mum can only have the cooking channel on as she was gets so distressed, she believed she was part of the programme even light Tv watching, the soaps , Heartbeat, ,and any of the old miss marple whodunnits or anything similar had her believe people were getting in the windows , in the house she would sometimes be hysterical, even having a radio on confused her as she could hear people talking , so now 24/7 the food channel, she is bedridden so it’s more just something to look at

 

[Agzy]

I have to be very careful as to what i watch on TV , my wife gets so involved with what we watch that she actually thinks she is in the program and that its real life , But i had to laugh just now, we are watching the Sunderland v Newcastle cup game and she wants to know if she is called on as a sub , can she wear her long coat as it looks cold [ there are some things you just have to laugh at or you would go totally mad ]

Sunderland might have benefited had she been called on, long coat or not 😂

 

[Agzy]

For me, everything I try and watch with him he says "we've seen this before" even if it has only just come out. When I gently try and explain that we can't have as it has only just come out, he gets cross - of course first rule of thumb never correct them, but it is so hard not to when you just want to try and watch telly with them.

Strangely @ZZ I have similar and as we are about to start on 4th time of watching ‘Highway to Heaven,’ on Prime, I now await the complaints. Although she may watch 2/3 episodes already almost memorised quite happily, one will suddenly be familiar and, “I watched this just before and don't like it.” So I am called on to get to next chapter as she can’t fathom the remote process herself and she is then happy even if part two of the one she had ’seen before.’

 

[Anthoula]

My OH likes to watch "Nothing to declare" and "Caught on camera" time and time and time and time and time and time again..........yawn!

 

[LynneMcV]

Choosing appropriate TV viewing became something of a finely honed skill in our home.

First, out went the sport - whether cricket, football, rugby, golf, snooker - my husband would sit and nervously shake as he waited to be called on to play his part, always annoyed at me for not preparing the right kit for him to play in. During golf and cricket I also had to choose the right moment to join or leave the room so that I didn't put the players off their stroke by moving within their eyeline 🤦

Game shows with money prizes were next to be taken off the list. He was convinced he 'd won £1000s each time and that I was stopping him from claiming it. He was not happy with me.

News was also a total no no - far too much to worry about around the world - with a continued expectation that between the two of us we could solve each and every crisis with a few well-placed phone calls.

Nature programmes were ok as long as we avoided any showing predators doing their thing - because, as far as my husband was concerned, that thing was happening for real within a few feet of him.

In the end I saved about 30 programmes which I knew to be 'safe to watch' and we would just re-visit them over and over.

It was only when my husband was in bed asleep that I dared go off piste and watch something new 🙂

 

[hillyjay]

It was only when my husband was in bed asleep that I dared go off piste and watch something new 🙂

You little devil, you😀 I bet you watched the news in secret for the thrill of being discovered…

 

[Sandypants]

Oh bless. I too have the very same problem and yes I have to monitor the what we watch and even when you think it's ok, it's not. Funny at times but if you don't take it seriously they get very angry. Unfortunately it means I never get to watch any serious/interesting programmes and end up going to bed very early. What can we do?

Oh goodness, this journey is horrendous, I too, have a job to find a programme that doesn’t cause some problem for my husband. If its a game of darts or a game of some sort, he keeps asking if its his turn or mine. Last Saturday we watched A place in the sun, thinking that would have been ok, but no, when I said I had to start cooking, my hubby swore and said No you don’t have to cook, ‘ They do”. He thought we were in a hotel, then it goes on all night, not believing we are home.
I am at my wits end, and seriously got to look for care home, I tried to do it last year but my heart would not let me. Sorry I know this is a post about tv etc, but I don’t know how to start a new thread. my husband is bowel incontinent and it is getting very difficult. I sometimes take him to the loo and ask him to sit there and try to do something, but its clear he doesn’t know HOW.
I am sure I will soon end up worse off than him if I cannot get the help I need.

 

[Chizz]

Hi @Sandypants

When I read your sentence "I am at my wits end, and seriously got to look for care home" I thought you meant for yourself!😆😆

That's precisely why I have carers in three times a day for my OH. It's easier for me than for you as my OH has become bedbound (as she forgot how to walk).

You need to get help before you become a patient. The carers coming in, whether you OH wants or not, is because you need this help.

 

[Rishile]

Not TV but music is confusing my husband at the moment. This morning he said how nice it was that Neil Diamond came into our house to sing for us. The other day he was very confused because he knew Elvis Presley was dead but couldn't understand how we were listening to his music.

 

[MaNaAk]

I have to be very careful as to what i watch on TV , my wife gets so involved with what we watch that she actually thinks she is in the program and that its real life , But i had to laugh just now, we are watching the Sunderland v Newcastle cup game and she wants to know if she is called on as a sub , can she wear her long coat as it looks cold [ there are some things you just have to laugh at or you would go totally mad ]

Oh I know exactly what you mean @ike that's why I started a thread called 'The Lighter Side Of Alzheimer's ' some years ago.

MaNaAk

 

[SeaSwallow]

Oh goodness, this journey is horrendous, I too, have a job to find a programme that doesn’t cause some problem for my husband. If its a game of darts or a game of some sort, he keeps asking if its his turn or mine. Last Saturday we watched A place in the sun, thinking that would have been ok, but no, when I said I had to start cooking, my hubby swore and said No you don’t have to cook, ‘ They do”. He thought we were in a hotel, then it goes on all night, not believing we are home.
I am at my wits end, and seriously got to look for care home, I tried to do it last year but my heart would not let me. Sorry I know this is a post about tv etc, but I don’t know how to start a new thread. my husband is bowel incontinent and it is getting very difficult. I sometimes take him to the loo and ask him to sit there and try to do something, but its clear he doesn’t know HOW.
I am sure I will soon end up worse off than him if I cannot get the help I need.

Hello @Sandypants I am so sorry to read about your husband it must be so hard for you to deal with on a daily basis and it certainly does sound as if it is nearing the time to consider full time care. If you want to start a new thread click on the link below - I have a partner with dementia and then click on the orange 'post thread' button which is on the right hand side of the page Tnen just give your thread a title. I hope that this helps a little.

I have a partner with dementia

This forum is for people with a partner or spouse with dementia.

forum.alzheimers.org.uk

 

[Jerseygirl]

Mum cannot have news or any programme with presenters looking at camera as she thinks they are talking to her and, as she can neither hear or understand them, its "i can't bloody hear you!". Dramas she thinks are real, and Loose Women are too noisy (though i agree with that) Though at least she knows to shush when Eastenders is on as its 'Janice's programme'. At the moment Emmerdale is on and she is constantly yapping twaddle and singing Swaney River, and yapping no one will give her 'crack corn'! My brain is fried!!

 

[MaNaAk]

Mum cannot have news or any programme with presenters looking at camera as she thinks they are talking to her and, as she can neither hear or understand them, its "i can't bloody hear you!". Dramas she thinks are real, and Loose Women are too noisy (though i agree with that) Though at least she knows to shush when Eastenders is on as its 'Janice's programme'. At the moment Emmerdale is on and she is constantly yapping twaddle and singing Swaney River, and yapping no one will give her 'crack corn'! My brain is fried!!

Dad used to ask 'when are we going home in EastEnders'!

 

[Neveradullday!]

Mum cannot have news or any programme with presenters looking at camera as she thinks they are talking to her and, as she can neither hear or understand them, its "i can't bloody hear you!". Dramas she thinks are real, and Loose Women are too noisy (though i agree with that) Though at least she knows to shush when Eastenders is on as its 'Janice's programme'. At the moment Emmerdale is on and she is constantly yapping twaddle and singing Swaney River, and yapping no one will give her 'crack corn'! My brain is fried!!

Ditto thinking the presenters are talking to her. On the news - any news about violence/conflicts has to be turned off. That's the one advantage of GB News - it's as much entertainment as news, lots of heated, as well as light hearted debates.

Loose Women - the stand up row with Janet Street Porter I referred to above (well JSP was seated) was a one off. I thank my lucky stars my mum hates it as much as I do. 😉

Soap operas - my mother stopped watching that rubbish a few years ago, before d (Thanks again lucky stars) 😏

 

[GD11]

Wow
Good to read this as my wife is going through just about all of this as well and I can relate to so much of it. It used to annoy me and I tried to explain it was just a tv and the people weren’t in our living room but now I just go with the flow. Certain programs she cannot watch such as soaps but won’t miss the chase and the news after,that is set in stone and she knows the time it’s on so dinner has to ready just before as she won’t eat in front of the tv. If anyone visits when she is watching something they are promptly told not to be speaking over the actors as they are working and it’s bad manners. If I can sneak the volume down to a whisper then she will interact with the visitors.

 

[Agzy]

Choosing appropriate TV viewing became something of a finely honed skill in our home.

First, out went the sport - whether cricket, football, rugby, golf, snooker - my husband would sit and nervously shake as he waited to be called on to play his part, always annoyed at me for not preparing the right kit for him to play in. During golf and cricket I also had to choose the right moment to join or leave the room so that I didn't put the players off their stroke by moving within their eyeline 🤦

Game shows with money prizes were next to be taken off the list. He was convinced he 'd won £1000s each time and that I was stopping him from claiming it. He was not happy with me.

News was also a total no no - far too much to worry about around the world - with a continued expectation that between the two of us we could solve each and every crisis with a few well-placed phone calls.

Nature programmes were ok as long as we avoided any showing predators doing their thing - because, as far as my husband was concerned, that thing was happening for real within a few feet of him.

In the end I saved about 30 programmes which I knew to be 'safe to watch' and we would just re-visit them over and over.

It was only when my husband was in bed asleep that I dared go off piste and watch something new 🙂

Ditto but with my LO it is Highway to Heaven (on 4th viewing) Little House on the Praire (2nd time watched) and Catherine Cookson series over and over again and, like you, I get my hour after she is in bed, heaven!

 

[Touchstone]

For me, everything I try and watch with him he says "we've seen this before" even if it has only just come out. When I gently try and explain that we can't have as it has only just come out, he gets cross - of course first rule of thumb never correct them, but it is so hard not to when you just want to try and watch telly with them.

Just read this post, my partner always says we have already seen films and series etc. what is the reason for this I wonder.

 

[LynneMcV]

Just read this post, my partner always says we have already seen films and series etc. what is the reason for this I wonder.

I don't know for sure, but when my husband was at a stage where he could still watch new and unvetted (by me) programmes, he used to say this and I generally put it down to the fact that many storylines/plots tend repeat themselves over and over. They are just played out in different scenarios with different characters.

I've often sat down to watch a new series or film and part way through have been reminded of something similar within another production. The only difference is that I know I am comparing it to something I have seen or heard before - with my husband, he was unable to make that connection.

i used to get around it by saying something along the lines of 'I think you are right but I must have missed it the last time it was shown. Do you mind watching it again?'

Fortunately, he was always happy to do so because he wanted me to enjoy it as much as he had 🙂

 

[Jacaranda16]

Ahh, been there and done that. It can be so funny but when you're tired and had enough yourself, it's hard to be patient and kind. Biting your tongue isn't your go to response. I am tired of watching rubbish and I don't have time or occasion to catch up. It's so bizarre the comments that he comes out with but reading all your comments, I know "I am not alone" - thank you All. X