I smile because she's my mother. I laugh because there's nothing she can do about it.
I'm not above badgering my dementia mother to get a drop of approbation out of her. And she's not above withholding affection to keep me from "getting too big for my britches." Ah, Dementia, you can't take this age-old mother/daughter conflict from us just yet. We're still having fun waging our filial battles.