My grandmother is caring for my grandfather, who has had Alzheimers for about three years. I would like to do some things for her to give her a break. I already do things like come over and make dinner occasionally, I sit with grandpa for a while so she can just take a walk, and other little things. Any fresh ideas?

    

Try to do some house hold chores like cleaning the room,washing clothes... or you can also give her some relaxation by giving a back massage...

I have thought of those things, too. Laundry is one thing she actually enjoys doing, and when she does it, she is able to think of something other than grandpa. I was thinking of taking a little basket of stuff over to her, but I don't know what, yet. A cd, and maybe one of those little lavender pillows.

Definitely give your grandmother something she can use, not something this is going to sit around and gather dust. Make it a theme like maybe a relaxation theme. The CD is a great idea. Maybe you can also add some treats like tea and tea cookies (or coffee with biscotti), a good book (if she likes to read or you can create a scrapbook with pictures of her and grandpa.), nice house slippers, make her favorite snack and add that too. You can also add a gift certificate for her favorite salon so that she can get her hair done (that's always a treat for me) OR maybe you can ask another family member to watch grandpa for the day and take her to get pampered at the spa (massage, manicures, pedicures, etc.) Afterwards, take her to her favorite restaurant and give her the basket. Be sure to add a sweet letter telling her how much she means to you (add some fond memories of your time growing up).

I would go and buy her groceries. That is always hard to do when you are caring for someone because you can't be in two places at once. Just go over and look in her fridge and pantry and don't tell her what you're up to because she'll stop you otherwise. Then go to the store and stock up on groceries. Come back to their place and unload the groceries for them. This is a really nice gesture that is also helpful to them.