Christmas has passed and now 2019 is upon us! This means more parties and more celebrating for most of us. However, if you have a senior loved one, late night parties aren’t exactly an easy thing to endure. New Year’s Eve often includes staying up late and partying hard, but there are many wonderful activities that allow for a grand time with the seniors in your life, that don’t include staying up half the night. Read on for our tips!
1. Prepare a Meal of Favorite Food
Not only is it a wonderful time to enjoy each other, but sharing a meal on New Year’s Eve is a great way to take a walk down memory lane, tell stories, etc. Allow your loved one to help prepare the meal if they are unable to cook on their own. They could help with prepping the food and sharing with you the memories of the same meal made back in their day.
If you choose to go out for a meal, encourage everyone to dress up and make it a special night out!
2. Reminisce and Share Memories
Get the family photo albums out and enjoy a time of memories together. Perhaps your elderly loved one is a parent who now has dementia. While short-term memories are a difficult task, reflecting on memories from years gone by is often much easier and brings great joy. Asking about your parent’s wedding day or when children were born is a great way to enjoy sharing these memories. Looking at pictures will also spark the stories attached to the photo.
3. Enjoy a Singalong
For those suffering from dementia, sing-alongs are often a fun activity. Try making a playlist that includes their favorite songs. These could include old standards or favorite hymns for example. If you aren’t up for the task of making the playlist or burning a CD, then just play the music on the stereo and start singing and dancing together! Again, encourage your senior to tell you stories they might attach to the song.
4. Make a Party Hat
Nothing says Happy New Year like a fun party hat! Making a party hat is an activity that can be a lot of fun and a memory you can make together. Grab some construction paper, glitter, stickers and anything else that will help create a fun and crazy party hat! There is no right or wrong here, so laugh a lot and make it super fun and silly.
5. Set New Year’s Resolutions
Goals for the new year for most of us include things like losing weight or changing careers, making more money, etc. Obviously, seniors are not going to have the same relevancy in these goals, so making New Year’s intentions is often a better way to look at it. It might be something like enjoying hobbies more, getting out more often or simply enjoying the small things more, such as laughter and changing of seasons.
Celebrating the new year with seniors doesn’t have to be a sad or difficult time. Find comfort in the small things and above all else, ENJOY each other as you ring in 2019!
For more information and ideas, please contact us today!
Home Helpers of Bourbonnais is a locally-owned, trusted home health care agency and offers quality, compassionate senior in-home care services including home care assistance, personal care, companion care, respite care, 24-hour live-in care, Alzheimer's & dementia care, Parkinson's care as well as homemaker services in Bourbonnais, Kankakee, Bradley, Manteno, Momence, Herscher, Watseka, Dwight, Braidwood, and Wilmington, Illinois.
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