What is it about Dr. Phil?

Alma took her desire to leave to a whole new level yesterday. We have an alarm on the front door and it’s quite loud. It reminds me of going into 7/11 and is pretty annoying. However, yesterday I was so grateful that Keith thought of that when we moved her in with us. That alarm went off so many times yesterday; you'd think we were having a sale on Slurpees. Fortunately, between our obnoxious little yip dogs and that high pitched ding, it startled Alma into quickly shutting the door and staying inside. Who knows how long it will be before she is no longer stopped by the ding. While Keith was home for lunch, he took out the trash and left the door open. When he came back up, Alma opened the door for him but quickly slipped past him and started down the steps. He asked her to come back inside and she was adamant that she was "going home" and stomped her foot several times. Keith later told me he was worried he would have to carry her back inside. I explained that we would avoid such measures and by following her until she calms down (Another tactic from working with children in foster care: try to avoid any kind of physical contact when someone is agitated. They will only escalate. The same would be true for anyone who is angry). Nonetheless, he was able to convince her to come inside and we spent the rest of the afternoon going back and forth about where she lives.

The only thing that really seems to calm Alma down right now is watching Dr. Phil. Of course I've heard of him but never had the opportunity to benefit from his great wisdom. I saw in some notes that a former caretaker left me once that she likes Dr. Phil. Therefore, when we are home in the afternoon, I make tea and we sit together and watch it. She loves him and laughs and laughs at how silly all of the people on his show can be. Personally, I can't stand him. I think he is pretentious and pompous at best. To be fair, I rarely make it through the entire episode so maybe I need to give old Phil a chance. For now, I am grateful for the diversion and to hear Alma laugh.

Even with an hour of Dr. Phil paired with her favorite cinnamon apple tea, Alma ended up quite agitated by the end of the day. Overall, she repeatedly states that she is frustrated that she "can't do anything" and will begin to stomp her feet like a small child who isn't getting their way. As I was helping her get ready for bed, she perceived that I was yelling at her for taking too many tissues (I wasn't-She grew up Post-Depression and she has related that her mother had a stern policy on toilet paper and tissue usage). I was asking her to please throw away the tissues in her pockets before putting her clothes in the laundry. Honestly, I really don't want to touch the used tissues and I think its okay to ask her to throw them away. She states that I am always taking all of her tissues and started arguing with me. I said (in an overly dramatic tone), "You want to fight with me about it?” And she said, "Yes, but you better watch it or I'll give you a black eye" and started laughing really hard. She went to bed still laughing at her own cleverness and the absurdity of her ever lashing out physically.