Children and the Elderly
May 17, 2009 by Mary Emma Allen
Filed under Parenting
I discovered that my grandchildren had no prejudice when it came to the elderly with Alzheimer’s. They accepted my mother as she was.
The fact that she might not know them seemed to have no bearing upon the youngsters, who began visiting her at the nursing home when they were 2- and 6-years old. They were 8 and 12 when she passed away.
Image:sxc.hu
To the younger child, Mother’s ramblings were a language he said only he understood. “Grandma talk to me,” he said, when I wondered what she was saying.
When asked why she visited a great grandmother who didn’t know her, my granddaughter once replied, “Because it makes Grandma happy.”
Often we think we must shelter the young from illnesses like Alzheimer’s and other conditions of the elderly. However, these are a fact of life and often seem easier for youngsters to accept than adults.
My mother has been gone for a number of years, yet her great grandchildren remember her with fondness and talk of our visits to the nursing home, highlighted by tea parties.
Great post, and so true. One year I went along on a field trip to a local nursing home around the holidays with children at the elementary school where I was counselor. The kids were wonderful. As you say, they weren’t uncomfortable in the way that more mature (?) people often are with the elderly.