Preschool Put into a Nursing Home: Winning Combination

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Hoosier_Daddy said:
So, now I can drop my annoying mom and my screaming toddler off at the same place!? Now that is American ingenuity!

(Sorry couldn’t resist…)
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Your idea is not new at all. Drop the kids off at the grandparents.

🙂
 
alphawoman said:
We used to have a word for that sort of arrangement: family. Across regions and throughout time, families and larger communities have co-existed interdependently in mixed age groups. There is complementarity to people at different life stages spending time together and supporting one another. 🙂
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Yes, I had that same thought too when I watched the video. Back when grandparents lived with family kids grew up with grandparent’s experience and wisdom. Children saw what it was like to grow old, and it was not a foreign idea. Many people have their parents watch their kids while they work out if necessity. I think they are lucky to be able to do that. Not to save money, but so their children spend quality time as well as quantity time with their grandparents.

My mom took care of many of her grandchildren over the years, including 2 of mine. She said it is what kept her young. And I believe her!
 
There is one like that in Portland, with a parish church at the center of it. It was established in 1999:

"…*Rather than isolating seniors in a sterile nursing environment, St. Anthony Village allows them to remain integrated in the life of a community that includes the neighborhood parish and a child care center built on site.

The villages provide a range of living options, from apartments for independent seniors to assisted living units, to sections for Alzheimer’s patients and those requiring vigorous care. Residents need not move far when their needs change.
St. Anthony Village offers games, interactive concerts and trips to museums and historical sites. Children from the daycare visit regularly*…"

catholicsentinel.org/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=35&ArticleID=10257
 
alphawoman said:
We used to have a word for that sort of arrangement: family. Across regions and throughout time, families and larger communities have co-existed interdependently in mixed age groups. There is complementarity to people at different life stages spending time together and supporting one another. 🙂
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And how much does the relationship of family cost now? Add the cost of a nursing home to the cost of a daycare…
 
Irishmom2 said:
Yes, I had that same thought too when I watched the video. Back when grandparents lived with family kids grew up with grandparent’s experience and wisdom. Children saw what it was like to grow old, and it was not a foreign idea. Many people have their parents watch their kids while they work out if necessity. I think they are lucky to be able to do that. Not to save money, but so their children spend quality time as well as quantity time with their grandparents.

My mom took care of many of her grandchildren over the years, including 2 of mine. She said it is what kept her young. And I believe her!
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When your mother’s health is failing, it is very nice to be able to have her close to take care of without having to move her. The grandchildren adore having their natural ally in the house, too.

It takes a special and generous relationship between parents and grandparents, though. A 3-generation household is not for everybody!
 
alphawoman said:
We used to have a word for that sort of arrangement: family. Across regions and throughout time, families and larger communities have co-existed interdependently in mixed age groups. There is complementarity to people at different life stages spending time together and supporting one another. 🙂
Click to expand...
👍
 
alphawoman said:
We used to have a word for that sort of arrangement: family. Across regions and throughout time, families and larger communities have co-existed interdependently in mixed age groups. There is complementarity to people at different life stages spending time together and supporting one another. 🙂
Click to expand...
Another word they used to have for this is “parish.” As you imply, we aren’t limited to blood-tie relationships. That is the model for St. Anthony Village, for instance. They don’t just have a preschool and a residence complex for older people that ranges from assisted living to nursing care or memory care placed near to each other. They built a parish in the middle of it, to be the nucleus.

This is different than a family. If one set of parents lives near enough to their children and grandchildren to see them on a regular basis, that is rare enough. To live in a village that includes people of your own age, including your now-grandparent-siblings and *their *children and grandchildren? That is very rare, indeed!
 
I hate to sound like a stick in the mud but this article states something very false. In the beginning of the second paragraph it states that in the Western world most of the people live in nursing homes once they reach a certain age. This is not true at all. Only a very small fraction actually need to and do live in a nursing home.

I do have concerns about cross-contamination of diseases between the two extreme age groups. I would also be concerned with the increasing number of residents in nursing homes who have dementia. This is something young children are not prepared to understand or deal with. It can in fact be dangerous for them .
 
Beautiful said:
I do have concerns about cross-contamination of diseases between the two extreme age groups. I would also be concerned with the increasing number of residents in nursing homes who have dementia. This is something young children are not prepared to understand or deal with. It can in fact be dangerous for them .
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I doubt it would be a free for all including all residents. Most likely the contagious or people with dementia that is far along would not be included, for their safety as well as the welfare of the children visiting.
 
Like others have said, from a healthcare perspective, it is not a good idea to mix preschoolers with the elderly. Both populations have weaker immune systems, and would both be at risk and put the other population at risk for things like C-dif (which will flare up and spread without warning in nursing homes). Things like the common cold, that little kids get so frequently, can send an elderly person with respiratory issues to the hospital. If a little kid catches C-dif, he is set up for a lifetime of possible GI troubles, or even cancer.

I agree that the loneliness of the elderly in the nursing homes is awful. I think it should be a focus of youth groups and confirmation classes at local parishes to “adopt” a nursing home to visit regularly.

Did anyone see the movie “Quartet”? It’s about a nursing home for retired musicians. I always liked that idea; to center nursing homes around common interests, rather than geographical convenience.
 
Hmmm… Seems to be working out just fine for the nursing home and children involved,

Again, I am sure something can be put in place where the elderly and/or the children will be safe.

I. for one am really surprised at how many people don’t think this is a good idea.
 
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