Babies, toddlers may fuss because they haven't had enough rest, but grandparents and great-grandparents don't mind, they just want to see them, hold them and love them. You are your grandparent's grandchild they want to see you, hold you and love you, also.
Long term care facilities are not off limits for babies or toddlers. They are like a ray of sunshine in the lives of the residents when they walk in the door. It is not a dirty place, nor a place of sickness. It is the resident's home. Grandparents live there. Young people live there.
For any given reason, grandparents may remember your visit for that particular instant, and for that moment you have brought them great joy. In days to come they may have just bits and pieces of recollections of that visit to cheer them for more days than you could imagine possible.
The nap your toddler or baby misses today isn't going to matter, 10, 15 years from now. However, when your teenage son asks if he knew or met grandma's mother, and your response is well yes, when you were tiny, but she was in a home later and we never went there….he's is going to be a smart young man (he has very smart parents) and he's going to want to know why.
Your mother raised 4 children, at one point 3, 3 years and under. One is now 29 with 3 children, all living, another is 27 with 2 children, all living, another is 25, he's alive and a child due in his family; another is nearly 17 and is more than alive, she's vibrant. They missed a lot of naps, some even were in sopping wet diapers for awhile, some missed their usual times to eat until a bit later, there were accidents, they visited nursing homes and were hugged by aged adults your mother didn't even know, but they all survived.
Children cannot live in bubbles; they must experience life at all its stages, even at a young age. They must know what failure is, so they understand the triumph of success. What's even better is the delight it brings to you to watch them learn, grow and realize their own promise.
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