When thinking about how I want my daughter to be raise. And what memories I want her to have of her childhood. I began thinking that I wanted her to remember growing up doing something for the community around her that was outside of the church. I think that will be a good foundation for her. I searched everywhere trying to find volunteer organizations that allow you to take your child with you. It finally came to me, pet therapy. We have a dog now and nursing home patients respond well to visits from children and pets.
I began by calling the nursing home closest to our home. The receptionist answered and when I told her what I was interested in doing she said, well we have pets here and our patients all have visitors so I don’t think you’re needed. Honestly, that was not what I was expecting. I called the second closest nursing home to us and the receptionist transferred me to the Activities Director. Once I explained to her that I was interested in doing pet therapy with my 2 year old daughter, the woman began getting very excited. They really want pet therapy for one of their wings that has patients that are unable to leave their rooms and need one-on-one attention and intergenerational pet therapy (child, parent and dog) would be great for them. The lady said that most of them do not get the attention they really deserve.
We ran by the nursing home to fill out paperwork for them to do a background check on me (so far, it’s just like volunteering at a school), to turn in Maggie’s shot records (slightly like enrolling at a school), and let them meet Maggie to make sure she wouldn’t scare the patients (somewhat like getting into a school). Once the background check was approved I was given a list of patients that aren’t able to leave their rooms. These are patients that should be my top priority, although I am allowed to visit anyone in the facility.
The background check just came back and the city was on ice today, so I haven’t had my first pet therapy experience yet, although we did visit a church member when we went to turn in our paperwork for volunteering. Call that a practice round. My goal is to try making it the nursing home once a week. That way it will become routine and something Taylor will anticipate doing each week. Once we start I’m sure I will have some feedback whether it is stories or meeting friendly faces. I’m looking forward to it.
