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That would be concerning to me and i’d keep a note of that along with other concerning situations and advise a medical check up if there are other recent and equally weird/abnormal for her issues.

What’s her age? I would be concerned in an Alzheimer’s/dementia/stroke type way

@SweetiePie: yah that seems not normal

@SweetiePie: My mom is 63 and I would def be concerned if she displayed these issues over a span of time

@SweetiePie: lol. fair enough.

Interesting. It could be something or could just be older age? I’d gently suggest to her or her husband, or get her kids to suggest chatting with the doctor about it.

@SweetiePie: I agree with everyone that it sounds like some memory/dementia/ Alzheimer's issues arising for sure. But my mother who is the same age and very much "with it"does the exact same type of things....Never follows his schedule, is so bad at creating comprehensible text messages, responds with ok all the time. I think it's a semi old lady thing. Poor communication and doing what you want on your schedule

I wouldn’t be comfortable leaving her in charge of either kid until she sees a doctor maybe. Getting lost or forgetting how/when to feed my kids would worry me.

I'm going to be the differing opinion here and say that I am not too worried. And that is saying a lot, considering my in laws babysit my kids 40 hours a week and it is the main trigger for my anxiety.

I get lost all of the time. I look up directions to my district office on GPS even though I've worked in this district for 9 years and gone to the district office maybe 5 times a year.

I work at a middle school that has a neighboring K3 campus literally 500 yd away. One time when I was at the neighboring school for an after school meeting, I got lost going home.

I go to my best friends new house every week for the past 4 months and I just figured out how to get there without making a mistake last week for the 1st time. She lives 5 minutes away.

As for the infant routine, I think some grandma's just don't really care about schedule/routine and so their lack of concern sometimes comes across as forgetting things. For example, I have told my MIL many times in the past 3 years to not make my kids wait for me to come home to nurse them, instead to give them their bottles out there scheduled times, but every month or so She will mention how she pushed the schedule and made them hungry so that I could come home and nurse them instead of them getting a bottle. She also never remembers how to use the forehead thermometer and seems very worried about giving my kids medications that I have already approved and written out the directions for multiple times.

Does she have a long history of being scatterbrained? If not, there are some red flags and I would talk about it with your husband and encourage an evaluation by a doctor. I would be concerned about her ability to care for children if things get worse.

I would watch for Alzheimer's disease. My mother has been diagnosed as early onset as she is only 64. The last time I drove with her, she wanted to know why we were still stopped at the light. The light was still red.

@Mrs. Toad: Ugh that is so tough, my mom is 63 so it's so scary that it can happen so early.

@SweetiePie: Hugs. This stuff is so stressful and I think you're right to be concerned. My MIL likely has undiagnosed Alzheimer's. Unfortunately no one took it seriously at first, and now she's too confused and resistant to handle an exam, so it will likely remain undiagnosed. I'd keep gently talking to your husband and his brother. It is super hard to watch your own parent decline. My DW was sort of in denial about how much help her mom needed for a long time.

I echo a lot of what other people are saying. But you need your husband on board for this. I am watching a friend go through something that sounds identical here.... my advice, based on her experience, is to start documenting. Just quietly keep a list of the date and the memory issue. Hopefully, if this keeps up, your husband will start to see it. If not, the list (to jog his memory) may prove very helpful. It will also help you more objectively assess if/when this starts to become a health or safety issue for either her or the boys.