I was rather tired yesterday after being woken at 2 am and not being able to get back to sleep.  This led me to try to catch up on sleep with an afternoon siesta.  Unfortunately I was woken an hour later by Maureen shouting: ‘this place is like a scrap yard’.  She was right – in every room and the garden I had left evidence of my half-finished endeavours.  I soon got my deserved reward with clothing and insults hurled in my direction.  The irony of all this is that I had been chatting to Chloe in the morning and she had reminded me how important it was not to add to Maureen’s levels of confusion: I would have got a University First in return for my efforts yesterday.

I have great respect for Chloe’s understanding of Maureen’s dementia.  She has had years of experience of working with clients who have the condition and  personalises her approach to Maureen’s care.   I have learned a lot about how to be an effective Care Partner by ‘Sitting next to Chloe’: yesterday I failed to heed her message and created confusion.

I hope I have got the message now and will consider whether my behaviour is likely to add to Maureen’s confusion.  Lying in bed with clothing hurled in your direction certainly gives you food for thought.   I’m not sure I dare mention this to Chloe or she might think there is little hope for her apprentice!