In life being prepared is essential, but when care-giving for a person with dementia it is do or fail. If he is hungry, for example, it is difficult to keep him from getting overly agitated if you have to start on the fly. Preparing came natural to me but after living with dementia and the crazy turns it could present made planning go to a new level, especially when you add young children. I first began by always preparing a weeks worth of medication/vitamins for my father on Sunday and soon graduated to preparing a month in advance (two months to cover summer). Meals would always have to be ready to go, so weekends become cook for the week. As time would go on my fathers meals would become more difficult so meals had to be specific for his diet; low fat, low carbs and easy to chew. Having a food-saver is a must and has allowed us to prepare meals so during the week it is grab and heat up. As you can imagine, with running kids to after school activities during the week can become quite hectic so it is prepare or go crazy trying to do it on the fly.