Loose In The Nursing Home

On Halloween our preschool co-op decided take a trip to a local nursing home. We got together and gave the kids a little speech about what to expect. It was hilarious. My kids knew where we were going and (mostly) what to expect, but apparently some of the other kids weren't so clear. 

One of the moms asked them where we were going. One kid shouted out 'The pumpkin patch!' and a few others showed their excitement over the prospect. No, kids, the only thing a nursing home has in common with a pumpkin patch is that the residents move about as fast as pumpkins. Or not.

She asked again, and another kid suggested 'to the bounce place!' At this point, us moms were laughing pretty hard. Boy, were they in for a surprise. She told them we were going to a nursing home (talk about bait and switch! ;) and that we were bringing them a present. She asked what we needed when we were sick, and some wise-cracker shouted out 'Candy!' Another strike for you, buddy.

Not only are we not going to the pumpkin patch or the bounce house, we are not handing out candy. We are handing out.....tissues!! Three cheers for Kleenex! At this point, the kids were starting to bounce off the (non-bouncy) walls and we were beginning to question the wisdom of taking a herd of hyped-up preschoolers to a nursing home. 

But we did, and it was great. They loved handing out the little packages of tissues they had decorated to the residents. There was a little bit of apprehension (and let's face it, a nursing home can be kind of scary) but they did good. It was no surprise that the residents LOVED it and I was thrilled knowing that the little parade would make their day. (I used to work in a retirement home and know what this kind of thing means to an elderly person) 

They were all patiently and impatiently lining the halls to wait for us to come their way. A few even had bowls of candy to give to the kids. Some of them were chomping at the bit, sending the message down the halls 'When are they coming our way???' 

We took a brief tour through an activity room where most of the people were slumped over and staring or sleeping and Tyler kind of freaked out (and I was freaking out in my head...because now that I am an adult the reality that someday I will be old is a little more real, and I really don't want to end up drooling at a table somewhere holding a stuffed bear, but I digress). Fortunately we were almost done at that point because I think the kids were getting overwhelmed.

On the way out we got to meet Mr. Gus who is a friend of a friend's dad or something like that. He was cute and we got him to pose for a picture. I was really glad my kids didn't make any loud remarks about his lack of appendage. I think they were more interested in the fact that one of the workers was standing at the ready with a bag of candy for them. So overall, it was lovely, and not a disaster. I am sure the residents were thrilled and it was good to be able to make them smile!