As the calendar flips to December, the holiday season is officially underway. Amidst the hustle and bustle of gift buying, travel and rounds of baking, the holiday season also offers a reminder of cultivating the mind of a child, complete with a wonder of the unknown. To get you started, we recommend making some time to catch snowflakes on your tongue, partake in some fresh-baked cookies and hot cocoa, and pause to gaze at the holiday lights and daydream.

The season of giving means something different to all of us, and yet it has an uncanny ability to bring out the child-like elements in all of us. How else could we explain how a glimpse of a white-bearded man creates such a tidal wave of holiday cheer? But the season isn’t just about the man in the big red suit that creates those feelings of magic. It’s a much bigger, intangible belief in things felt, yet not seen.

Nowhere is this demonstrated with such beauty and simplicity as in the 1947 Christmas Classic Miracle on 34th Street. The story recounts how a department store Santa hired for the holiday season goes on to influence the lives of all he encounters through the power of believing in what you believe to be true. One of the best lines in the movie may be when Fred Gailey, the lawyer who defends Kris Kringle, states that, “Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to.”

Throughout the holiday season we are given a number of opportunities to briefly suspend reality in order to let the child within take over for a time. Whether this means taking the time to be silly and join in on a holiday sing-along at one of the SeniorCare houses or just letting yourself go with the flow (despite the busyness of the season), the holidays are an opportunity to take off the grown-up glasses and concerns, if only for a moment. The result may be that you are able to rediscover some of the magic of Christmas that you can carry over long into the New Year.

In order to remind ourselves of the importance of welcoming the child within, the residents of each SeniorCare Memory Care Home will be receiving a visit from the big man himself, Santa Claus, later this month. Throughout the holiday season, we’ll also be partaking in a number of holiday pleasures, including visits from local musicians to perform Christmas music, viewings of classic holiday movies with some of the best music of the season such as Bing Crosby’s White Christmas and Holiday Inn as well as some new holiday movie favorites.

At SeniorCare Homes, we believe that the season of wonder never has to dissipate, no matter how many years of holidays you’ve been blessed to celebrate. From all of us at SeniorCare Homes, to all of you, we wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

SeniorCare Homes in Overland Park and Leawood, Kansas, offer the most comfortable and stable assisted living environment to seniors with dementia, memory loss, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Phone (913) 236-0036 to learn more about neighborhood living for the memory impaired.