It's a new day

For as long as back as I can remember my mom made the same resolution every new year, to lose weight.  The  woman spent more than half her life on a diet and it never worked.  Mom loved her bread, cheese, sausage and buttermilk just a little to much to ever really succeed on any diet.  Now that the dementia diet has helped mom finally reach her goal, I asked what would be her new, new years resolution.  Mom answered "To walk".
I was a little shocked and dismayed.  Mom tries often to get herself up and out of bed and out of her Broda chair.  So much so that we have to make her seat belt is secure when she is in her chair and that she hasn't unbuckled it (she has a few times).  But actually walking could be an impossibility.  The apraxia (inability to control body movements) may have subsided for now, however, the atrophy in her leg muscles is probably to great for her to support her body.  Regardless, if that is my mother's goal, then I will do what I can to help her.  The first step is strengthening her arms.
Before the holidays and when mom first showed the ability to use her hands and arms again I met with the Occupational Therapist and asked him to work with mom, he agreed.  So starting next week, he will meet with mom three times a week to exercise, stretch and strengthen her arms.  I am going to attend one of the sessions so that I can see what he is doing and continue the work everyday.  The other thing he had suggested was encouraging mom to use her arms as much as possible whether when eating or flipping the pages of a book or other activities that have her using her arms.  Mom is already in the drum circle so I also got her started in painting.  A  healthy a person reading this might not see how painting would be beneficial.  You have to consider that for months and months mom did not use her hands or arms to even scratch her nose, so any type of movement is exercise.
Last night mom started her first painting group.  Mom wasn't a 'artsy' person.  She could sew and knit and crochet but painting wasn't anything she ever considered.  Once, a million years ago, she got in pottery for a year but I think that was only to appease her best friend Sylvia who's husband was a potter.  Mom did make a pretty good ashtray that dad still has and tea bag holder that I still use to this day.  Outside of that though, mom just wasn't 'artsy'.  I wasn't sure how she would respond to a painting group so I went with her.
At first mom was not interested in painting.  She asked if she could use the pencil crayons and colour the pictures.  The rec therapist told her she could but I said "No".  I reminded mom that it's a painting group and not a colouring group and she gave me one of her looks. 
I set up a pallet of paints and bowl of water and had her pick a picture to paint.  She was pissed off and said "I don't care, you pick".  So I picked and laid everything she needed out in front of her.  Mom proceeded to paint.  She finished one picture and then another and then another and was starting on a fourth when we realized that time was up and I needed to help clean up.  When my dad arrived my mom was very pleased with her paintings and she proudly displayed them to my dad, who smiled from ear to ear and even showed them to the caregiver of another resident. 
Yes, it's a new day and new year and there will be many 'old' new things with my mom and I look forward to them all.