I grew up living next door to my 85 year old Grandmother who would go to "the center" to play bridge with her friends once a week. Every Sunday after church she would bring me with her and the ladies at the senior center would teach me how to play bridge, gin rummy, scrabble, checkers and chess. One of the things that made me fall in love with my husband was knowing he used to play chess and cribbage at a senior center with different people weekly when he was young. To me I felt we had some shared values few people my own age shared that I would want to pass to my own children.
I have always thought there was an uncalled for division between seniors and young children. I realized this being the only child what would visit regularly. I used to think, don't these people have grand children who want to see them? Now that I am older I understand better why the visits are not as easy to commit to. Sunday's worked for my family because my parents would divide the kids in our family up so they each could get 1:1 time with at least one adult once a week( I thought was great idea).
When my Great Uncle was in the VA home as a resident we would bring our daughter to see him. He seemed to enjoy showing her the fish, telling her stories about my Grandfather that she never got to meet and rolling her around in his wheel chair in his lap. We believed the more they visited the better he'd feel. I could see the energy rise with every visit and we tried to stick with a routine to help. The same held true for my husband's Grandfather, my Nana and Grammy when they were in nursing homes. I also want to add it was not just for the person your are visitings benefit. The people around them adored having children visit and get extra attention.The children are learning and accepting age, differences, culture and values from different generations. Oral histories that could easily be forgotten that are not put in books or well known.
I had noticed there are place in the U.S. that have pre-schools attached to senior centers and I think that is such a brilliant idea. But, until we can get one of those in Penobscot county I will suggest finding a senior center/ nursing home to plan visits with. You don't have to know a person to begin with to make a difference in their life.
I have always thought there was an uncalled for division between seniors and young children. I realized this being the only child what would visit regularly. I used to think, don't these people have grand children who want to see them? Now that I am older I understand better why the visits are not as easy to commit to. Sunday's worked for my family because my parents would divide the kids in our family up so they each could get 1:1 time with at least one adult once a week( I thought was great idea).
When my Great Uncle was in the VA home as a resident we would bring our daughter to see him. He seemed to enjoy showing her the fish, telling her stories about my Grandfather that she never got to meet and rolling her around in his wheel chair in his lap. We believed the more they visited the better he'd feel. I could see the energy rise with every visit and we tried to stick with a routine to help. The same held true for my husband's Grandfather, my Nana and Grammy when they were in nursing homes. I also want to add it was not just for the person your are visitings benefit. The people around them adored having children visit and get extra attention.The children are learning and accepting age, differences, culture and values from different generations. Oral histories that could easily be forgotten that are not put in books or well known.
I had noticed there are place in the U.S. that have pre-schools attached to senior centers and I think that is such a brilliant idea. But, until we can get one of those in Penobscot county I will suggest finding a senior center/ nursing home to plan visits with. You don't have to know a person to begin with to make a difference in their life.
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