Spread Some Love and Tissues

We can never share too much love! Even in times when we’re being careful not to share germs, there are ways to reach out on the big day of love in February.

With St. Valentine’s Day coming up, I was thnking about how our homeschool support group families used to celebrate it together and how that could be refashioned for the times.

For several years, we’d either go to one of the local nursing homes or to the extended care unit of the nearby veteran’s hospital.  Visiting is restricted now, of course, but it would be pretty easy to adapt what we did, and it could be especially sweet for the same reason.

We made arrangements for our group to visit and had the kids bring small packages of tissues – you know, the purse size kind - with heart stickers on, and some homemade cards. Few things are cuter than kid-made cards, except maybe the kids themselves. :)

The beauty of the tissue packages was that they were something everyone could use. And, because they’d probably last a few days, the remembrance of people caring about them was extended beyond our actual visit.  Plus it would be quite okay if residents got more than one or if we had leftovers, so the planning for this was very low stress.  Edible treats would have been nice, but wouldn’t work with some diet restrictions, so we stayed away from those.

We also brought song sheets with the words (in large print) to Let Me Call You Sweetheart, Side By Side, You Are My Sunshine, and a few other golden oldies that the residents could sing along with and were easy enough for the moms and kids. When we could get someone to plink along on a piano, it was even better.

For the VA hospital, we brought the same kind of tissue packages with heart stickers, and valentines that said “Thank you for loving and serving our country” and things like that, and we mixed in songs about love of country like God Bless America, My Country ‘Tis of Thee, and This Land is Your Land.

An easy adaptation would be to have the kids make big signs with valentine sentiments, maybe the names of the songs too, to hold up outside a window where several residents can see, or to take the signs and songs on the move and walk around the building.  A little boom box accompaniment would be nice too.  Even if the people can’t hear the singing, just knowing the kids are singing would be great. Of course, you’ll need to get permission first.

Families could stay in groups, so everyone would be together but apart. 

I don’t know whether the places will accept tissue packages and song sheets now, but it would be worth asking when you make your appointment. Maybe disposable masks with heart stickers? 

Sharing some love with people that are even more restricted than most of us … thinking about what the people would like and what would be meaningful to them … figuring out how to do something when you can’t do what you’d like to, are all great to model for your kids, too.

You may even need a few tissues yourselves when you think about how truly blessed we are.