Celebrating New Years in Assisted Living

However you like to ring out the old and ring in the new year, you can be sure that the same good cheer and festivity is happening in exceptional senior living and assisted living communities. 

Many songs of the season seem to include the word “celebrate” or “celebration”. Kenny Loggins’ much-loved Celebrate Me Home comes to mind:

Please, celebrate me home,

give me a number,

please, celebrate me home

play me one more song,

that I’ll always remember,

and I can recall,

whenever I find myself too all alone,

I can sing me home.

Of course, you may be more familiar with Bing Crosby’s Let’s Start the New Year Right, from the 1942 film, Holiday Inn (co-starring Fred Astaire, naturally!)

Or maybe you just prefer the traditional – singing “auld lang syne.” 

Here are a few things that you’re likely to see at The Kensington Sierra Madre as we say goodbye to 2019 and welcome in the new year:

• Dressing up our spaces. Party hats, streamers, balloons, colored paper, glitter: deck out your assisted living suites, just as you do your own home in years past. Our residences are crafting and creating decorations for the holidays, and really throughout the year.
• Dress up ourself! During the holidays you’ll see everyone’s finery. From the residents to the staff, everyone will be glittering. Check out our social media to see our festive spirit.
• Make the New Year yummy! Holiday gatherings can mean typical snack foods, such as chips and dip, deviled eggs, brownies, and cookies — or an entire delicious meal. For many seniors, dietary restrictions can be an issue, but that doesn’t mean you have to forgo tasty and appealing fare. Adapting to specific senior nutritional guidelines never dilutes our menu: low sodium, easy to chew and digest, simple to prepare, and, of course, tasty. And because it’s the holidays, we always enjoy a few sweet treats. Our passionate foodie, Chef Dusko, knows how important “just desserts” are to a well-balanced diet.
• Playing great traditional games. Board games are always fun and great for senior cognition. Monopoly, Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit, and other time-honored favorites have long been an enjoyable, inclusive way to spend time together at any family gathering. They also help pass the time until midnight — if you’re planning to stay awake until the clock ticks over to 2020. Charades is another fun game that doesn’t require any props except a good imagination.
• Bring out the bubbly. Sure, everyone opens bottles of champagne on New Year’s Eve, but might we suggest an even more intriguing option that works even for people who do not drink alcohol: a bubble machine. We can create bubbles in a riotous rainbow of colors with a portable bubble machine that can be used indoors and outside, depending on the weather. Bonus: beyond New Year’s Eve, this little device will be a surefire hit with the family and kids of all ages visiting parents and grandparents in assisted living.
• Story sharing. At The Kensington Sierra Madre, we love sharing stories with families and residents. Nothing is easier than gathering in a circle, giving everyone a turn, and allowing each person to share a pivotal piece of their past — ideally something that relates to the turning of the year — for everyone to enjoy. There can be some sweet nostalgic moments that might be especially endearing to any grandchildren listening.
• Resolve it. Next year is the year of clear vision: 20/20 — get it? So even if our eyesight isn’t perfect, we can all see clearly with our hearts. This is a great time to set some positive goals for the new year: many of our residents are endeavoring to participate in more Life Enrichment activities or getting to sleep at the same time each night to boost your health and happiness.
• Finding life’s humor. Those who live to be 100 years old or more usually have a sense of humor. When centenarians recount their lives,what’s compelling is the joie de vivre with which they express what they’ve learned, even through the most difficult losses. By being resilient, giving back, and “enlightening up”, they master what happens and move on. One exceptional piece of wisdom for being creatively positive (and positively creative) comes from 101-year-old Cliff Crozier, who bakes his own bread and cakes from scratch. He says, “I don’t have many failures. If I’m making a cake and it fails, it becomes a pudding.” That’s a stunning example of the art of practical positivity. And it shows that happiness is not happenstance.

Happy New Year at The Kensington Sierra Madre

At The Kensington, we celebrate each of our residents every day of the year. Our goal is to find or create ways to help each beloved senior feel comfortable, secure, happy, and dignified. We build care into the rapport we cultivate with residents. 

The Kensington Sierra Madre residents enjoy active social lives. We offer events seven days a week, from morning until evening. But it isn’t just about keeping busy. Regular activities create friendships and help to foster engagement and preserve wellness. Our team draws from a wide range of resident interests in an effort to appeal to all. We celebrate the uniqueness of all the personalities among us.

Come visit us as we launch 2020, and let us show you why moving to The Kensington may be the best decision you make to start the New Year off right.