Middle of the Night Madness

Dad's understanding of time of day is weak at best. In the past, he used daylight to gauge when to go to bed and when to get up. This meant that he was going to bed very early in the winter and getting up extremely early in the summer. However, it was at least approximately correct.

Lately, Dad has not even been able to use these clues. This has resulted in some strange and annoying incidents. He will randomly decide it's bed time any time after 6:30. This means that any time we need/want to go out in the evening, we'll run the risk of Dad going to bed too early and either not preparing properly (diaper, medication, etc.) or putting a burden on Mom that she has a hard time with. On another day, he may decide it's NOT bedtime and resist being made ready for bed. These are irritating events but not really problematic.

The problem comes when he decides to get up at 1:30 a.m. We have a huge triple sliding glass door in Dad's living area and a large window with only light filtering curtains in his bedroom. There is no reason for him not to be able to see that it isn't daylight. However, twice while my daughter was visiting, he decided that it was morning and that he needed to get up. Now my daughter had brought her two 1/2 lab puppies with her. To keep them from barking at night, we locked them in the utility room. Both times Dad got up, he let the puppies into the house. Now first of all, they are labs which means they chew. They chew EVERYTHING--sprinkler systems, lawn furniture, air conditioning insulation, you name it. Second, since they are puppies, they are only partially house broken. Fortunately, I heard the puppies both times and got them before anything happened, but it was a narrow escape.

The really puzzling thing is why Dad let them inside in the first place. He doesn't ever go into the utility room unless he is on the way to the car. So, the need to go into the room where they were isn't a reason. Furthermore, he doesn't even LIKE dogs. (see July 5)

T'is a puzzlement.