Resolve to Spend More Quality Time with your Senior Loved Ones This Year
With the new year in full swing, you’ve no doubt been considering some resolutions. While you might not need to be reminded to spend time with the senior citizens you love, putting them at the top of your resolution list can help you be more intentional about spending time with them this year. It is a great way to remind yourself to be more grateful that they are in your life another year and to come up with new ways to make memories together.
There are many ways to spend quality time and make new memories with your senior loved one. In the new year, come up with ideas that center around things they enjoy doing, or that you enjoy doing together. However, if you choose to do it, resolve to spend more quality time with your senior loved one this year. Here are some ideas for doing just that.
Plan Ahead
Take some time to sit with your favorite senior and talk about any goals they might have for the coming year. Find out some things they would like to do - whether they are things they have never tried before, or are some tried and true favorites. Their answers might surprise you. Make a list of their thoughts, talk about them, and then refer to it throughout the year as you prepare to spend time together. You, of course, don’t have to stick completely to your list. But having a plan in front of you will help you be more intentional about doing the things they want to do.
Enjoy the Ordinary
While planning ahead is great for accomplishing goals in the new year, often some of the best moments that turn into lasting memories come from spontaneous ideas. Or, even more common, some of the best memories simply come from everyday moments spent together. You can even just sit with your senior and do a crossword puzzle, listen to music or watch one of their favorite shows. Maybe they’re a Downton Abbey lover and they can explain the series and various characters to you as you watch them together. Maybe they love walking at Lake Baldwin Park each morning and just being in the peace of nature. Join them on their walk. Head to the senior center with them, and take a class they’re interested in. Try to be a part of the things they love - whether it’s their clubs, their shows, or their church. See what makes them happy, and make new memories doing it together.
Catch Up on History
Seniors love telling stories. Sit with them and listen. Drag out the old photo albums and go through them together. Bring the kids along, so your senior loved ones can tell the grandchildren stories about you as a child, and stories from their childhood as well. See if you can all find resemblances in the family photos. Ask your senior what they remember about that family driving trip to Yellowstone in the 1970s as you flip through the albums. They might jog your memory, and you may come up with memories they don’t remember. Find out from your senior loved one who all of those people in the old photos are, and listen to stories about them so that you can in turn pass them down to future generations.
Document The Past With New Inventions
During the colder winter months, it’s a great time to stay indoors with your senior loved one and catch up on things you’ve been meaning to do together. Are there questions you’ve always wanted the answers to? Are you curious about your birth story, or why your family moved to Florida in the first place? Use your phone, and record their stories. Make a video diary together. Document your senior loved one with your children or grandchildren, and make a keepsake memory of them together. You will be thankful later to have not only those stories in video, but also to have captured your senior loved one how they were - their mannerisms, their smile, and their laughter.
Whisk Away this Winter
If you’re staying warm inside, a great way to spend time together with your senior loved one is cooking and baking. Ask them to teach you their favorite recipes. Look at them make their famous cookies, and see exactly how much molasses they usually put in. Open up their old wooden recipe box, and sift through it for some recipes. You might get a blast from the past as you look through the recipes, finding things like Coca-cola Jello or beef stroganoff. Invite the kids along so that they can learn too. Have your children try the old staples you ate around the dinner table each night and rate the dishes.
Visiting Angels Winter Park Can Help
If you are looking for a professional caregiver to help your senior loved one this year, Visiting Angels Winter Park can help. Our caregivers can provide a variety of services to help your senior and you as you go through a changing lifestyle. We can help you focus on what is important in life while helping to take care of everyday tasks for your senior and your family.
Our compassionate caregivers help people in the Orlando Downtown East, Winter Park, and surrounding areas of Orange County. We can come into your home to assess your needs and discuss how we can help make this journey easier. For information contact us at 407-236-9997.