What Can Caring about the Elderly Teach your Children
Every human born enters the winter years of their lives at one time or another. Many of the elderly are alone and forgotten. Their children have moved away and they are not healthy enough to leave their homes. Some end up in nursing homes while others are still healthy enough to walk and have a routine and still work like everyone else. Remember at one time these elderly people were babies, went to school, some graduated, some had to work hard as teenagers and eventually most got married or went to college. This is your heritage and someday you and your children will be in the winter years of your life. You can only hope your spouse will live long enough, you won’t outlive your children and your children and grandchildren won’t forget you. The best thing you can teach your children about the elderly is patience and the wealth of knowledge and wisdom they have gained throughout the years.
Your children can learn a boatload of history from the elderly. They can tell your kids where they came from and how their lives were when they grew up. The elderly can teach children the things they will never learn in history or school books. They can teach about real life experiences in the world and your kids can learn about how it was growing up in the Depression Era, during the war and other historical facts that these fine people lived through. Socialization for the elderly is very important for both the young and the old when it comes to their emotional health.
Seniors have lived much longer than children and have seen many things in life. They have faced fear, struggled with their own challenges, faced many obstacles and they are still alive to talk about it. This is what you want your child to learn is facing the obstacles that life will bring them. This is a good quality to have so your children can learn to face their fears head-on. This is how they learn to manage in life and help their own families down the line.
The elderly also have learned quite a few skills that your children can learn like sewing, small carpentry, farming, baking, and gardening to name a few. Many of the seniors have had to learn these trades as they grew up and these skills are not taught in today’s society. These skills are still very important and can be used for life and save your children a lot of money as well.
Your kids can also help the elderly with some small chores so they can still feel independent and your child can learn their own independence. The main goal is to live a long and happy life and the elderly can teach your children to become thankful and peaceful. It’s important to be grateful for what you have and not worry about what you don’t have. Manners are also a very important quality that your children can learn from the elderly.
The elderly can also teach your kids something very important and that is to live with plugs. The seniors of today grew up when television was not invented and the radio was just becoming popular. There were no computers, tablets or cellphones. The elderly learned how to play the piano, play outside and use their imaginations when they had time away from their chores and schools. Many families did not have cars so some had to walk miles to school in the cold, rain, wind and heat. Social media was non-existent and mail took weeks to reach them. The elderly can teach your children how to write cursive and write a letter with a pencil and paper. They will also play cards and board games and talk to each other instead of staring at a device all day. Conversations are important and today’s kids are becoming socially awkward from being online during all their free time.
The seniors are also great at dancing because many went to dances when they were teens and met their future spouses. Dancing with the elderly will help them remain active and your children will learn something new. The most important gift is both the elderly and your child will gain a sense of purpose from these experiences.
The elderly are also very humorous and can teach your children a new world of jokes and pranks to have a ball with. This means a lot to kids because if one of their siblings is teasing them, they could learn a funny trick from a senior to teach them a loving lesson. This is also the same if they are teased by their friends or other members of their family.
Respect is an important quality that the elderly can teach children as well. All kids need to understand the meaning of respecting their elders no matter if they are related or not. Grandchildren would never disrespect or hurt their grandparents or they should be taught not to. The same applies to elderly people that walk or are outside or in the store. Children should learn enough manners to hold the door open for an elderly person, say hello politely and respect everyone’s property no matter how old they are. If an elderly person doesn’t want kids on their grass, it’s not petty, it’s respect that should be taught to children and parents should learn that patience as well.
In society today most correspondence comes through texts, emails, and messages of some sort from devices. Now years ago, the United States mail was the way to receive a letter or a telegram came through Western Union. Years ago this was the only way to communicate to people who lived far away so people relied on the mail and they still do. The telephone came along and then it became easier to call long distance and now it’s free compared to twenty years ago. Seniors can talk to kids about the mail they used to receive and party lines when telephones first came out. They can also tell kids about how they waited for letters from friends and presents from different family. They can also teach your children how to send them a letter via US mail.
Seniors know there is nothing more important than family and also realize that life is very short and the years go by quickly. This is something your kids can learn from the elderly. They can teach your children to appreciate their parents and to hold on to what they have in life as far as family and friends.
Chores become more difficult with age for the elderly so life becomes more challenging. It’s nice if there are some young people that visit them because they still enjoy talking to people too. They might have lost their youth, however; they still have a lifetime of memories to teach children. Children also gain more confidence from being able to help someone in need. Children love to be noticed and like to talk about their experiences and interests as well so the elderly and the young children of the world make a good match in life.
