Finding Day Care for Ms. Lula

When Ms. Lula first arrived to SD, I explored many options for day to day care. I work full time and needed to continue to do so. So I tried a senior day care for persons with dementia called The Glenner Center. It was an awesome place.

The first day I dropped her off. It was like taking a child to school on her first day. I was so nervous. I called and checked in on her. She did ok with some minor challenges. We started her off with 2 days a week to see how she would do.

The next week I’d arranged for transportation through the SD MTS Metropolitan Transient System. I was extremely nervous about this so our wonderful caregiver, Margarita, rode to the center with her to ensure she was ok. What I love about the MTS, was that the driver came to the door, held my mother’s hand and walked her to the bus. They did a superb job. The next time, she went by herself. I was extra nervous because I was putting her on a bus with someone I don’t know and trusting that they would ensure she got off the bus at the proper location. Once again they did a superb job. She came and went on the MTS the entire time of her stay there at the center which didn’t last very long.

One day I received a call letting me know that Ms. Lula kept talking throughout all the activities and it was difficult for them to maintain control of the group. Almost every week I would hear of a new challenge, but overall she did ok.

My personal challenge with day care is that they close at a certain time and the staff wants to go home. Well my job is not the kind of job where I get off exactly the same time everyday. There were times I needed to stay a bit longer but had to dash out to pick up Ms. Lula or meet the MTS bus at the house. I eventually hired caregivers for those days and unfortunately pulled her out of the program.