The children and I of Sunshine and Puddles Family Day Care visit the Nursing Home just up the street from us pretty much every week all year long.
Over the time we have been visiting our friends there we have made some many wonderful relationships with residents, staff and management. From stories about the residents lives to sharing daily happenings with the children. We have shared Spring Fairs and major events from the children. We’ve cooked, constructed, painted, sung and danced. Some of the relationships are so strong that children’s families and residents families and residents themselves have become friends.
It’s not unusual for the residents to ask for photos and/or artworks from/of the children.
I love it when the residents are as excited to see us as we are to see them. I have a very young group that visit on a Wednesday and they have settled straight in to being super comfortable and relaxed. One resident Barb absolutely delights in talking to the children and listens very intently to what they have to say. She remembers everything they tell her. She makes them feel so important. I setup craft today after we had done some visits and Barb immediately joined us so she could spend more time with them. One of the children made sure she had all the resources she needed and chatted away to Barb as they worked. It was the most beautiful thing to witness. It’s moments like these that make the visits pure joy!