Approaching Senior Moments...

Does the following sequence of events sound familiar?

I grab the laundry basket from my hall closet and then head into the bedroom to pick up any dirty laundry lying around. While I’m there, I notice that the bed hasn’t been made, so I put down the basket and start making the bed. Once the bed is made, I notice that there’s too much clutter on my dresser, so I start putting things back in their proper place. As I’m doing this, I trip over the laundry basket. Oh right, the laundry. I abandon my dresser and pick the basket back up, grab the dirty clothes and head down to the laundry room.

I start the washer but then notice that I don’t have a full load, so it’s back upstairs to the kids’ rooms to see what needs to be washed. While doing this, I notice my son left his dirty cup from breakfast on his bedside table, so I bring it to the kitchen to rinse and place in the dishwasher. The pots and pans from last night’s dinner are still soaking in the sink, so I give the cup a quick rinse and then start washing the pots and pans. Once those are done, I head back into my son’s room, only to stand there stupefied, with no clue why I am there.

I head back into the kitchen and realize that the counters need cleaning. We’re nearly out of paper towels, so I head back down to the basement for another roll. As I enter the furnace room I again completely forget why I’m there. I notice that the light is on in the laundry room so I walk over to shut it off only to discover that the washer is filled and waiting for the rest of the dirty clothes that are somewhere in my son’s room. Oh right…That’s what I was doing in the first place.
I know I’m edging ever closer to 50, but is it possible that I’ve got both a mild case of Alzheimer’s combined with an undiagnosed case of adult ADD? In my previous life as a video producer I could juggle casting sessions, shoots, edits, script revisions and a hundred other tasks effortlessly. When I had my children, I could still run a load of laundry while paying my bills online and feeding a bottle to my infant. What happened?

Now when I try to multi-task the results are far from favorable. On a recent afternoon I decided to get a jump on dinner by grilling some chicken breasts. I threw the chicken on the grill and wandered back into the house where my focus was immediately claimed by several other tasks that needed attention. Sometime later I drifted back into the kitchen and wondered, “What’s that smell?” only to discover the forgotten chicken breasts outside on the grill. Hey kids, it’s blackened Cajun chicken tonight!

I also find that my brain doesn’t always kick into gear as quickly as it used to. In conversation I often find that key words refuse to make the jump from my brain to my tongue. This also happens with names. A few years back I hosted a brunch for several friends and while making introductions my mind went completely blank when it came to the name of my friend’s husband, someone I’ve known for years. While it was an embarrassing aberration at the moment, it’s happening more and more frequently of late.

Are these instances what my friend calls “menopause brain” or something more serious? When my book club read “Still Alice”, a novel about a woman with early onset Alzheimer’s disease, we were all convinced we had it too. Then again, one friend reassures me that,”It’s okay if you forget where you left your car keys…it’s not okay if you forget what those keys are for.”

I’m wondering if what I’m experiencing is what my parents refer to as “senior moments”. I guess it’s not a big deal that I have to call my own cell phone once in a while to find where I left it (and don’t you wish you could do the same thing with your car keys and the television remote?) It may take me a little longer to remember someone’s name or a word I’m trying to verbalize but eventually they do come. Rather than trying to accomplish multiple tasks at once, I’ll focus on just completing one before moving on to the next.

Thankfully I’m not alone. A friend recently recounted that she tossed her Kindle on top of her laundry and brought the basket downstairs to catch up on reading while doing the wash. She inadvertently threw some towels on top of the Kindle and a short time later dumped the whole load into the washing machine. Three minutes later, when she couldn’t find her Kindle, she realized her mistake. Despite her efforts to revive it, the Kindle was dead. We could chalk this up to a “senior moment” but she’s quite a few years younger than me.

This story made me feel better. I may burn the chicken and lose my keys and forget your name and start and stop a dozen tasks throughout the day, but at least I know that Kindles are hand wash only.