Socialization and Entertainment (Everybody needs some)
When you are selecting social activities for the family, don’t leave grandma and grandpa out. Many seniors suffer from depression. Being left out and alone makes it worse. When you are tempted to forget them, remember you will be in the same situation one day. You are teaching your children how to treat you by the way your treat your parents.
Try to select movies that the entire family can watch together. They all don’t have to be kids’ movies all the time. Try an “old movie night” or rent some Hallmark movies.
Instead of taking a kid with you every time you go to the store, get your spouse to watch the parents and take your parents on errands. They gave birth to you; they probably would like a little “one on one” time with you. In the mornings before the kids are up, go in your parents’ room and have a cup of coffee with them. Talk about things that interest them, like the past or relatives.
One of the biggest problems you may encounter is providing entertainment for your children. Most children like to have other children over, and they love spend the night parties. Sometimes noise like this can just be too much for a senior. If your child is going to have spend-the-night-parties, you may want to set up some rules ahead of time:
Play outside as much as possible.
Use inside voices.
Walk instead of running in the house.
Clean up any spills immediately.
Avoid “rough housing.”
Multigenerational living can be very rewarding, but it is not always easy. The way to have it work is to have a plan before your parents move in and to remind everyone that the key word is “respect” when being part of this family.