We recently watched a Twilight Zone episode 86 called Kick the Can. As you may know, there is a children’s game called Kick the Can where kids run and hide but kick a can before getting caught. Not many kids in our days have played it but lately we’ve seen our elderly generations teaching our youth how to play. It’s a game which means it’s going to be fun no matter what. This particular episode is bittersweet.
The main character is an elderly man who sits outside his assisted living facility dreaming of the good old days. He sees kids playing Kick the Can and gets a spark inside him to bring back his youth. With excitement he tries to get his peers to join who do nothing but call him crazy and complain about how old they are to do kid stuff anymore. This does not stop our old man from pursuing his dreams of youthful activity. In the end, he accomplishes his goal to play again – as it is the Twilight Zone, he becomes a kid and buys back many more decades of life, while all of the other seniors watch him play Kick the Can.
This must be one of our favorite stories told by the series. It’s actually the entire reason this site was created! Why do we complain about being too old. Does the senior you care for ever talk that way? Or do you notice them wanting to be a kid again, only to be stopped by family members telling them to sit down before they break a hip?
Think about yourself. If you’re in your thirties or up, you probably have thought about your younger years. Maybe you’re starting to feel back pain and more tired. Maybe you can’t keep up with kids as much as you’d like. But you’ve done it haven’t you? You’ve thought about being a kid and the games you used to play. You’ve thought about your young appearance and the naivety you had before ailments and mortality fears perked up.
Can we truly become youthful again? Is it possible to reverse our own aging or our elderly loved ones’ aging process? Not like the Twilight Zone, but perhaps we can rewire our brains to see ourselves in a more youthful way. There is such a thing as creating neural pathways. We aren’t stuck with the same thinking pattern we currently have. If we can change our brains to think in a more youthful way, why don’t we?
We’ve been thinking about giving ourselves a ‘Yes’ day where we have 24 hours to say yes to anything new, so long as it doesn’t affect the long-term future or cause danger to ourselves or anyone. Have you thought about doing this for your senior? You, as a caregiver, have 24 hours to do as your senior wishes. If they want ice cream and it doesn’t have a medical crisis attached to it, why not give them ice cream? If they want to go for a long drive to see the sunset when they usually are stuck in bed, are you going to hope they forget or are you going to take them for that long drive to see a sunset?
Talk to your senior patient and see if they’re on board. You may have seniors who dismiss this, much like the peers in the episode, but you may have a senior who tells you, “I’ve waited a long time for this.” Ask, what have you got to lose? Even if they do say no, everyone likes a good game. Try to find something neutral and not so daring. Bring on board games or trivia games. Play Jeopardy on the computer or television set. Surely there is something you can think of.
Or sit down and watch this episode with your senior and talk about it afterwards. Chances are you both will relate. Not just your senior, but you too.