Family dinners don’t have to be a thing of the past just because you’ve grown up. August is Family Meal Month and it’s a great time to revive the tradition of a weekly family dinner.
Weekly family dinners with your senior parent will help keep your senior loved one connected to the family and to the outside world. It also is a great opportunity for your kids and your senior parent to have some quality time together that they may not get during the week.
Making a family dinner doesn’t have to be a hassle. If your senior parent has senior home care the senior home care provider can help your parent prepare for the meal by getting the ingredients ready. Or the senior home care provider can help your senior parent cook the meal and keep it hot until the family get there. Some of the other benefits of a weekly family dinner are:
You Can Be Sure Your Senior Loved One Is Eating
Malnutrition is a big problem among seniors. There are a lot of reasons why seniors don’t eat enough, but one of them is that they don’t like to eat alone. When your family sits down for a weekly family dinner you can be sure that your senior loved one is getting a good meal. And you can keep an eye on them to make sure they are not looking too thin indicating they aren’t eating enough during the rest of the week.
Leftovers Are Easy To Cook Meals
Family meals are great, but so are the leftovers. Before you leave make sure that you portion the leftovers into individual meal containers. Then put them in the fridge or freezer. Your senior loved one can enjoy a healthy and delicious meal without any hassle the next day by putting leftovers in the microwave or air fryer.
Quality Time With Your Senior Parent
Even if you visit your senior loved one often during the week you may not get the kind of quality time with them that you can spend with them on the weekend at a family meal. Instead of having to rush and worrying about your schedule you can take the time to really enjoy being your senior parent. Reconnecting with your kids and your senior loved one is a huge benefit that comes with a weekly family meal.
A Sense Of Purpose
Seniors often struggle to find a sense of purpose that gives them a reason to get out of bed each day. Planning, shopping for, and cooking a big family dinner is a great purpose for a senior loved one. They can have all the fun of finding new recipes to make, or adapting their classic recipes that they used to make when you were little. A senior home care provider can help them shop for all the ingredients and do some of the cooking so that your senior parent can focus on the important things like the seasoning. And then they can have the joy of cooking for their family like they probably did for many years.
If you or an aging loved-one is considering Senior Home Care in Fitchburg, WI please contact the caring staff at Agape Senior Services Madison today. (608) 841-1004
