[Sundae]

Got my tissue paper through - bought from eBay because they sell Christmas things all year round and they're much cheaper in the Summer. Red with sheep for Mum, green with penguins for Dads. Very happy with it, means I don't have to label them, just wrap as I buy and I'll know who they're for even if I don't remember what they are!

Also, my most expensive present arrived - engraved tumbler.
It says Keep Calm Dads and Drink Whisky.
I know it's an overused theme, but it's of his time.

I found out AFTER I'd ordered it, that he mostly drinks Bacardi and pineapple now. Mum doesn't like him to have spirits, and he always used to drink whisky neat. So if he's had a good week she mixes him a small measure of white rum & pineapple juice on a Saturday night.

Ah well. He'll read the inscription, laugh and be pleased, and then forget what it says and who bought it. Maybe Mum will put it out for him in the mornings as a juice glass (orange, no alcoholic content!) She'll like it anyway.

So much easier to buy for Mum. So many tiny tiny prizes she will understand and love which are about thought not money.
Even if I put a lot of thought and effort into a present for Dad, he will "tidy it away" and/ or forget it, who bought it and why. Fuck dementia. Sideways.

Shouldn't have bought the glass. Should have just found some random items in the Pound Shop as it'll mean the same thing. But it won't. Not to me and not to Mum. To us that's like buying a generic card and not even writing a message in it (yeah, we're weird about cards - not those we receive, just those we give). And we still love him. I think we both have a lot of adjusting to do.

ANYWAY.
Hotel booked. Train tickets booked. Christmas Day trip down the Thames booked (oh, we're going to London, staying in a hotel Grandad once worked in). Mum has chosen a steakhouse for Christmas Eve dinner and we're lunching at the hotel.
All sounds wonderful. I just have to stay sane, sober, safe and remember she's ;osing her husband who has been in her life since he was before my father, if you get what I mean. I need to love her and look after her as much as him. And I don't mean by buying her presents.