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Home Care Fun: Visiting a Butterfly Garden

Beautiful Monarch Butterflies

Home Care in Weston MA

As the spring weather makes it much-awaited return and the temperatures outside gradually increase, many people are looking for ways to increase their activity and get them out into the fresh air so that they can enjoy the milder weather and the beauty of nature springing back to life after the long, cold winter months. This is a fantastic time for your parent to enjoy outings with her non-medical caregiver that allow her to get out of the house to enjoy some more physical activity. One particularly fun outing that many seniors enjoy during the spring months is visiting a butterfly garden. These beautiful, controlled exhibits allow you to get up close and personal with a variety of butterflies so that you can see their evolution through life and witness their beauty and grace in a much closer and more detailed way that you likely would out in the “real” world.

As with any activity that she might enjoy with you or with her non-medical caregiver, it is important that your parent is prepared and that you put the proper measures into place to ensure that everyone involved has the best time possible. Use these tips to help you plan a fun and beneficial adventure to a butterfly garden with your aging loved one:

  • Avoid flowy clothing. Butterfly gardens are, just as the name implies, filled with butterflies and it is likely that a few of these little winged friends will fly close to and even land on your elderly loved one during her visit. While this can be a thrilling experience, if she is wearing loose, flowy, or layered clothing, a butterfly could get stuck in the layers of cloth and get injured, killed, or accidentally transported out of the garden.
  • Follow all instructions. Make sure that your parent fully understands all of the instructions from the staff prior to entering the garden. If she has difficulty hearing or cognitive limitations, go over the instructions with her again in a way that she will understand, and make sure that she knows how important it is to follow them. These instructions generally include information on how to accept a butterfly landing on you, not to pick them up, not to touch their wings, and how to handle any caterpillars or chrysalises you may encounter. These instructions are critical to the health and safety of the butterflies, so be sure to follow them closely.
  • Record memories. This can be a truly amazing experience for your aging parent. Make sure that you record it with plenty of pictures and then as soon as you get back home talk to her and have her share her memories with you so that you can journal them for a scrapbook or special memory book you can reminisce over later.

If you or an aging loved one are considering non-medical in-home care in Metrowest Boston, MA, call Griswold Home Care and speak to one of our caring staff members today. Call (781) 559-0073

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