I noticed confusion on Dad's part when it came to choosing what to wear from his closet. He would hang dirty clothes in his closet at night instead of putting them in the hamper. And the next morning, he was clueless as to which were dirty and which were clean. He could not be trusted to change socks and underwear every day, either. His slogan was, "If it ain't brown, give it another round." Eeeeeeoooo.
Moreover, he had difficulty through stiffness and swelling to take off or put on clothing. So I began to help him by picking out clean clothing and helping him get dressed each morning. Each night, as I helped him undress, I would see that shirts, underwear and socks made it into the dirty clothes hamper. And I would make a judgment call on whether the sweaters and slacks were ready for washing. He said it make him feel like royalty to receive that kind of help. I told him, "Every knight needs his squire."
When we started having extreme problems with fluid retention, Dad's waist size would change on a daily basis. So we got him some slacks with elastic waist and drawstring. Problem solved.
Before Mom and Dad came to live with us, they observed special laundry days. Mom organized the wash loads and enlisted Dad to help move loads from the washer to the dryer and fold them after they dried. This continued after they came to live with us. After Mom died, Betty and I would made sure Dad's clothes were washed regularly. Since the washer and dryer were in his bathroom, he would constantly check them to see if anything needed attention. We had to keep tabs on him because he would sometimes put items in the dryer that should not be dried there or set them on the wrong temperature. So we started leaving him notes on the dryer door to guide him, or we would hear him clacking the doors and go check on his progress.
Dad's eyesight was so bad he couldn't match his socks. Blue, brown and black all looked the same. And when he tried to carry folded towels to another room, he was very wobbly. We continued to let him help fold, but we would do it with him. MORE>
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