Difficut Mother

Just play along with her and warn Sophie in advance - don't get stressed about it...

That's my problem Ana, I DO get stressed these days!

Yes, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make light of your situation but if your mother's a mischief-maker I would warn everyone and just let her do her worst.

I sympathise. It so annoys me when I tell my Aunt ( also in her 80s that someone was asking about her, her reply is always the same, " I've never liked her /him).
it doesn't matter which of my dil's she's talking to, she'll always say, "I like you better than (the other). It drives me potty!!!
I find it stressful these days too.

My mum got rather difficult too. I'm sure being referred to as sofa isn't the worst thing in the world, really?

Both Dil's know exactly what she's like and have a good laugh about it.

I often thought with my mum, that it was her way of entertaining herself. Lord knows the poor old girls life had shrunk down to the kind of existence nobody really would have wanted. She started to call me grommet, because she said my miserable face looked like the characters'.

Don't make a big deal of it. My mother was very eccentric and said some pretty outlandish things - usually with a gleam of mischief but we laughed them off.

They do it to attract attention and why not? There's not much left for them to kick against is there?

I would politely correct her in front of Sophie and say 'no mum, the name is Sophie' and do it each time. She'll soon learn to use the correct name!

regression into childish behavoir is pretty normal after a certain age.
which is different for everyone.
my aunt used to take care of a lady who would hide in the cupboards to play hide and seek.
only she didn't tell auntie that the game was afoot.
so auntie would go crazy thinking she had wandered off.
finally used a nannycam to discover she was hiding under the sink .tiny little lady.

just forewarn sofia.

My mother, at 80yrs old, told my husband she was pregnant. The thing was, she was very prudish for most of her life. She thought she would shock my husband, he just smiled and said, "That's nice."
I'm sure Sophie will understand, try not to get upset about it.

Oh i m so looking forward to calling people sofa and hiding in cupboards
Oh this really isn't anything to get uptight about Warn your sons girlfriend she ll probably get her name wrong and then I m sure the girl will have a good laugh about it I know I would
Good on the old gal for still having spirit it really is no big deal

Oh dear some of those posts made me laugh .
I've known a few old people like that (mostly ladies) and always thought it was because of a touch of dementia or Altzheimers, not abnormal at their age.
My dear old Mum, who lived to 87 wasn't like that at all, but I've noticed early signs of it in myself (must take more care!)

At a few days off 80 I am pleased to say I have all my marbles, am totally with it and feel and act 20 years younger so this behavior is not normal or acceptable.
Those who worry they may be like this at that age should not worry.?

my mothers GP said she was a carnaptious old begger ..and she was .But as I said to him she's my carnaptious old begger and we're all used to her .She used to say quite outlandish things and was hypercritical about everyone .I do miss her though even though the day before she died she told me not to visit her wearing trousers as I was the wrong shape...I was a small 12 then.I dread to think what she'd say about me now I'm a 14 ..lol

I have decided that my (quite recently) late mother was a rather nasty, manipulative person.

When my step father was dying, he asked to see me alone, and said "promise me you will always yank the chain" and he was not referring to flushing the toilet.

Just had to look up the definition of carnaptious, never heard the word before . My mother was like this all my life, I assume she was more lovable when my father met and married her!

I hope that Sophie is a robust young lady with a sense of humour! Otherwise, I would explain that you see this as a mild, early form of dementia.
It is in fact, fairly typical of the confabulation of the early stages: "I can't remember names well, I'll say something I think is amusing." My mother did it with food, and would say that this word was a family nickname for a certain dish, but it wasn't.

Mine shows no signs of dementia really, but can't get her head round my granddaughter's name, which has 4 letters, lol. Fortunately my grandson's only has 3, so more chance there. Correcting my mother has no effect, so go with it and enjoy the Sofa nickname

There are worse things to be called
From,
Grommet.

How far into her eighties is she? If she's getting on for ninety I'd just shrug and put it down to her being a cantankerous old whatsit but if she's in her early eighties I'd tell her she's being silly, nobody's impressed and Stop It Right Now!!!

My mother remarked that it was good that my (plus-size) daughter had found a partner who was as big as she was.

I now wonder if it was the early stages of dementia and, to be honest, am quite relieved that she died before it really took hold

I'm No. 2 wife. FiL called me "Debbie" for a long time - Xwife's name; when MiL corrected him some time later, he still couldn't remember my name so I was "darling". It happens, and Darling was better than the other...

My Mum (who we sadly lost in April) somehow managed to call my DGS Aldi most of the time, his given name is Albie. We just laughed it off and asked her to change to Waitrose!!!