Some things that I do to help me with my memory

(Chapter 18 Problem Solving and Chapter 26 MCI Tool Box in my book)

Recently I realized something. I have had to come up with little tricks to help me with my memory. The first thing that I want to share is last Christmas my son and daughter-in-law gave me some really nice new cookware. After I read the booklet that was in the box, I had to come up with something so that I don't use cooking spray and ruin my new pans. What I do is write on a piece of masking tape “DO NOT use on new cookware.” Then I put the piece of masking tape on the can of cooking spray. So far this has worked out very well. Each time that I buy a new can of spray, I put a new piece of tape on the can.

The second thing that I do is about some biscuit/cookie cutters. Sometimes I like to make biscuits for breakfast and I was having trouble remembering which size cutter that I usually use. I came up with this idea and it has worked out well. I have four cutters all different sizes in a small zipper bag. What I did was write on a piece of masking tape, “For biscuits, use the SMALLEST cutter”. I put the piece of masking tape on the outside of the bag that the cutters are in. This has worked out well. Now I don’t get frustrated because I can’t remember which one that I usually use.

The third thing that I do involves a recipe card. I like to make my own pizza. I have no problem making the pizza but with my bad knee I have trouble bending. The pan that I use for the pizza is glass and I have three different sizes. On the recipe card I wrote the size of the pan but that didn't help me. I couldn't remember which pan was the size that I had written down on the recipe card. I would take one pan out of cabinet and read the dimension. It was usually the wrong size so I had to put it back in the cabinet. Then I had to take another size pan out and this was usually the right size. I had to do something to help me. The pans are heavy for me to keep lifting them so getting the right pan out of the cabinet the first time is much better for me. I decided to write on the recipe card, “middle size pan”. This works very well for me. Now I know right away which pan to take out of the cabinet to use.

These are just three examples of what I do to help me with my memory problems. All of these things have lessened my frustration and my stress!