Mum Still Has A Name For Every Mouthful Of Tea....... Or, Mother's Glugging Game

Mum Still Has A Name For Every Mouthful Of Tea....... Or, Mother's Glugging Game

I've recently written about Mum's pattern of eating, and how she is very slow at mealtimes, but that with patience, she will clear her plate.

After eating her dinner, she also likes some chocolate with her tea - After 8s are a favourite, which I cut in to quarters for her, and she can feed herself with the little square pieces.

I then do "rounds" of tea with her - usually six spoonfuls per round, all accompanied by the name of one of the pussy cats, or one of us.

We have "One for Blackie; one for Pushkin; one for Tiddlywinks; one for Artemis; one for Al's pussy cat, Apollo, and one for Marmaduke: .... The cat who lives down the road."  Mum joins in with this "glugging game", finishing off the sentences as we go through the list.

Then it's on to members of the family: "One for Wendy; one for Al; one for you, one for me....." etc.
and, in between rounds, we have a little pause, whilst I rub her back to get rid of any air Mum's swallowed. This usually results in a good burp - I tell her, "Better out than in!" and Mum says, "That's better!"

Helping Mum to drink a cup of tea now takes 12 or 13 "rounds" - 72 - 78 spoonfuls - and with all the rests in between, it can take nearly an hour for her to finish. However, if we use this time to ring up someone Mum knows and have a chat on the phone, the spoonfuls tend to go down more quickly, and we've had the pleasure of touching base with a friend. We also comb and do her hair, which she really enjoys.

We still have people who don't know Mum's routine all that well, suggesting we use straws, or put the tea in a baby's feeding mug; but we have already tried those ideas, with very little success.

The strangest thing is that when we go for Tea at the Ritz, Mum tends to "rise to the occasion," and, with help, will drink her tea from a Palm Court tea cup. They don't hold as much as the pussy cat mugs we have at home, and we have to steady her hand round the cup for every sip, but I think the elegance of her surroundings does have an effect on her. It's a shame I can't replicate it at home!

The important thing is for Mum to keep up a good fluid level; she hardly ever says she feels thirsty, so it's up to us to ensure she drinks (and eats) properly.