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I wish I had a remote I could use in my room to turn my mothers tv off when she falls asleep at volume 75. Actually how about a remote I could use anywhere to fix her tv when she randomly pushes buttons & upsets the menu.


I also wish I could remote control the clocks in her room & kitchen. Make them say later at bedtime & earlier in the morning. She’d/I’d stay in bed longer if the clock said 6:30 instead of 8:30.


Things that would make life a bit easier...

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I like your make-believe inventions!
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I would like an upbeat newscast for seniors. Nothing fake, but all the bad news omitted, lots of local color about nice young people, interesting civic happenings, cute animals, etc., and some not-too-hyped up weather and sports reports.
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Momshelp...I like your ideas. The remote to turn off your moms tv from another room could possibly be accomplished using Alexa with an amazon echo dot. We turn our lights on and off with that using voice command when we’re in the house, and can do it remotely using the app on my phone. You probably could plug her tv into an Alexa compatible outlet and control it remotely. Maybe even the volume.
No ideas on that clock tho!
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Snoopylove, that’s a great idea! How about a Channel we program like a YouTube channel. Unfortunately I’m tech deficient but that would be great.
rocketjcat, Alexa & echo is a thought. I have an echo I received as a gift a couple of years ago but that’s when mom got sick & I started spending 6 nights a week at her house. I never set it up. I’ll find it & see what I can rig up. Keep thinking for that clock :)
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Oh for a recliner that was never affected by pee, no matter what the pee just bounced right off and you never felt or smelled a thing!
Okay, back to reality, but I enjoyed the thought.....
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My DH says that the clock is a piece of cake, do-able for under $20 with components from Ebay (OK plus an electronic engineering degree or a tech-savvy teenager). You buy a gizmo that combines a ‘real time clock’ with a separate display, and program the display any which way you want. You could program it to show Big Ben London time, or to show earlier mornings and later evenings. He says just don’t assume that mother is never going to work out the tricks! A new business opportunity?
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MargaretMcKen, you sadly lost me at gizmo! Business opportunity for your hubby though. I do have access to someone with an engineering degree, so maybe I’ll bring it up next time I see him. No tech savvy teens or maybe they’re savy enough to hide their talents:)
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Momshelp, is your Mom's TV and the other TV's on cable? Call the provider and get a second remote that is in tuned with Mom's TV. Whether it would work through the walls, that is hard to say. But it seems like you are checking in on Mom, thus you know she is asleep, use the second remote when you check on her.

One reason remotes aren't stronger is that if one lived in an apartment, the remote could possibly turn off another resident's TV in error.

One could also try using a timer on the TV, where if Mom tends to doze out at 9 pm, the TV will automatically turn off via the timer. My TV in my bedroom will automatically turn off after 2 hours of none use of the remote, it is built into the TV set. I could re-set it to turn off after 1 hour of none use.

Volume at 75, good grief, that would cause me to go screaming into the night.

The clocks, can you set Mom's clocks a half hour later to see how she does with that? If ok, then later set Mom's clocks an hour later. If one day Mom notices the clock in the kitchen is different, just say you will need to fix the clock.
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Freqflyer, I thought it might be interesting to see about the extra remote, so I just took hers into my room. I didn’t work through walls. Does make sense though too many remotes in homes & apartments. I watch her via a nanny cam, she’d awaken & want to chat, eat, watch tv if I went physically into her room. I have her bedroom clock set 20 mins earlier but some overcast days I think if I could set it remotely 1 hour earlier she’d stay in bed. My mom doesn’t get up because she’s done sleeping, she wakes because she needs to pee & then wants breakfast & coffee—6,7,8,9. If it’s before 6 she’ll go back to sleep. I can’t go back to sleep once I wake up. If I could have the clock say 5 at 7 I think she’d fall for it & sleep a few more hours. Some nights she’s nodding off in the living room at 6 but says it’s too early to go into her room so those nights I could set it to say 9pm but switch it back before morning. After I posted this I did look to see if maybe a remote controlled clock existed & they do but same thing, I need to be in front of it to change it.
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While you wait to talk about clocks with your engineering friend, here is another lower-tech suggestion. Clocks aren't expensive. By three identical clocks. Set one early, for the morning, one late, for the evening, and one correct for the middle of the day. Swap them around when mother isn't looking!
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MargaretMcKen! I like the way you think!
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I wish there was an invention where it would make it easier to lift the mattress when putting on new sheets. I like to tuck in the top sheet and blanket. These new mattresses are extra thick which means they are quite heavy. I guess I could bring in the car jack :P

Makes me wish I had kept my old mattress.
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Momshelp,

FOR TV SOUND, if she doesn't care for wireless earphones or ear buds, you can always use wireless directional speakers. She can listen loud and you wont be able to hear it unless your sitting next to her. Watch speaker demo on this page: https://ultrasonic-audio.com/products/acouspade-directional-speaker/

FOR TV REMOTE CONTROL through interior walls, you must use either Bluetooth or WIFI from a device designed for this. Example: https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Harmony-Elite-Remote-Control/dp/B014PDFP9S?psc=1&SubscriptionId=AKIAINYWQL7SPW7D7JCA&tag=aboutcom02lifewire-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B014PDFP9S&ascsubtag=4138565%7Cgoogle.com%7C%7C%7C36%2C70%2C10%2C74%2C37%2C29%2C77%2C46%7C1%7C

CURRENT REMOTE CONTROLS use (IR) Infra-Red (light) that, like a flashlight, can NOT penetrate walls. However, you can use small make-up mirrors to redirect YOUR duplicate remote control infra-red 'light' (for her TV) down a hallway from mirror to mirror (2~3 mirror max) until the last mirror shines into her TV room. To test her TV Infra-Red light sensitivity, point her remote (with fresh batteries) to any wall or spot on the ceiling in her TV room as if it were a diffusing mirror and it should still control her TV just fine... unless the tiny red dot sensor lens on the front of her TV is dirty. Think of it like a bright flashlight that emits invisible light.

FOR A CLOCK. I'm not sure how long that might fool her. I'm a chronic workaholic night-owl so, I use a Melatonin sleep aid supplement and the 'sounds to sleep by' channel on cable TV (whatever she thinks might work). There are even devices and apps dedicated to sleep sounds and emission of specific light frequencies that induce sleep and THEN emit wake up frequency light when appropriate.
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Ice cream that is fabulously delicious and in no way impacts your weight or your health.
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I wish there was a way for me to reposition my LO higher on the bed without needing an assistant. Why isn’t there a crank at the top of the bed with two arms that unwind and attach to a slip sheet that can be hand cranked so that it pulls the sheet (and person) up? That would make life with someone who cannot assist so much more convenient!
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InventorGrissom, great information. Thank you :)
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JuliaRose, have you tried slide sheets?
AgingCare has a link to some:
https://www.agingcare.com/products/smart-sheet-440839.htm
but there are many other styles available.
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Momshelp,
What a great thread!
Will be thinking about this....but for now here's this:

I have been controlling Tweety bird's bedtime by changing the lighting, curtains and shades, and music. He gets in bed by himself when conditions are right.

If you can put the clock in a more remote place so Mom cannot view it from her bed, that may help. If she asks what time it is.....tell her anything you need to.
Such as, "I think it is very late...I'll go find out...in the meantime, here is your bedtime cookie." (or meds?). Maybe when you come back, she will be asleep,
you may be wishing.

Disclaimer: Keep in mind the elder's rights and dignity. There are moral and ethical obligations when attempting to control another human being's concept of
1) Time 2) Food and drink 3) Sleep/wake by meds, etc. unless it is entirely for their own benefit.

But we can dream and fantasize, right?

(not really an invention, but an intervention).
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Freqflier,
I ran across these handy things that actually lift the corner if the mattress to assist with changing the sheets!

https://www.agingcare.com/products/magic-mattress-lift-204734.htm
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JuliaRose, thanks for the links. Interesting looking devices.

Methink I will write to the mattress companies and ask them to make the box spring thicker and the mattress thinner. My gosh, if my Mom was still alive today, she would be quite frustrated as she liked tight corners on her bedding.
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InventorGrissom, thank you so many solutions!
JuliaRose, a crank at the top of the bed sounds great for positioning.
Sendhelp, yes just dreaming but really I hadn’t considered moral or ethical implications. I guess I was focused on necessity being the mother of invention.
How about a cooling blanket for the summer? The reverse of an electric blanket in winter?
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I have actually seen a cooling under blanket, demonstrated at a field day fair some years ago. It heated or cooled, and used an air conditioner device to cool the wires (or water pipes, I can’t remember). It was designed for women with night sweats due to the menopause (in fact men with prostate cancer hormone medication can have a similar problem). It was really expensive, and I suspect never made it into mass production. I was past the night sweats problem when I saw it, otherwise I would have been genuinely tempted.
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I’m surprised that no-one has posted the best of all inventions – the off switch with timer. Multi-uses – children, yourself when your head is going round and round, and possibly the LO. If only!
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Momshelp, I think you missed your 'calling' to be a professional brainstormer.

REVERSE BLANKET: 18 years ago, I invented a reverse microwave function to quickly cool or freeze food in the same microwave oven. Google "cooling blanket" and you'll find that you could have been a millionaire! Example: https://gravityblankets.com/products/gravity-cooling-blanket I know how to make one that'll give you frost bite. :)

AIR BED: In 2011 I spent 7 months in Oregon finishing a prototype. I bought an air bed, something I never thought I would sleep on. It turned out to be the most comfortable bed I've ever slept on (adjustable firmness), waterproof, VERY light weight, and thus very easy sheet changing. I bought a raised air mattress so I wouldn't need a frame - this one: www.amazon.com/Intex-Supreme-Raised-Mattress-Built

THE CLOCK: I don't think you mentioned if your mother is capable of getting herself out of bed and into a walker or wheel chair. Or, if she's even capable of sitting up in bed on her own. It might make a difference on how to solve the clock problem.
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Saturday Night Live had a funny skit about a fictional Amazon Alexa for seniors called the Echo Silver. It has an “uh huh” feature for long rambling stories, it scans for items (“the phone is in your right hand”), and it repeats answers and reminds the senior of their original question. If the temperature is already 80 degrees, it will point this out and not turn the thermostat on even if the senior asks it to.

I wish it existed! 

https://www.cnet.com/news/snl-saturday-night-live-parody-ad-amazon-echo-for-old-people-senior-citizens/
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MargaretMcKen

NOISY ENVIRONMENT OFF SWITCH (assuming that's what you meant) would be a white noise generator. Downtown Columbus, OH Lazarus started using them in the early 60's in their 40 foot wide no doors or windows street level entrance. It was amazing! Outside noise was almost unbearable but walk through their invisible white noise wall and everything outside went completely silent. Google "white noise generator" and see sites like this: https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/whiteNoiseGenerator.php

Inventors' Digest Magazine thinks toilet paper might be the most indispensable invention ever. https://www.inventorsdigest.com/articles/useful-invention-toilet-paper/?fbclid=IwAR3_ii-NW7SJRxjVSx2C2JSpJZMuEj6ELMuX1zCAQ-YXlTVaYymMq1wR-2s
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No no no, not white noise, instant unconscious sleep. For yourself, when your head is going round and round with worry, for the overtired screaming child, for a person in too much pain to sleep, for the person you care for if you get to the very end of your ability to cope. The Off Switch we all need. Bring it on!
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Good drugs Margaret. Wasn't that why "mother's little helper" was so popular?
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CWillie, no good for kids! And addictive for self! The off switch (with timer) is the answer we need!
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An alarm embedded in your loved one's brain that warns you *before* she gets up and sets off on her fall-risk travels.
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