Halloween has been a favorite holiday of children forever with their fun or pseudo-scary costumes as they go searching for neighbors to provide candy. There is a tie-in to aging in place.
Are our homes scary or nice?
Halloween has many symbols and expressions – sweet candies and scary ghosts and goblins. This is not lost on our homes as we age in place. For one, kids will be coming to our homes this week for a Halloween treat. This is what they expect. Let’s not disappoint.
However, our homes could be challenging for them to approach – cracked sidewalks, overgrown bushes, and darkened areas. They could be challenging for us.
What about inside? How do we navigate and use our homes? Do we feel that we are being tricked by our homes? Or, is it a treat to be in our homes?
Time to take stock
This is the perfect time to take stock of how well our homes accommodate and provide for us. Are they clean, easy to move about from room-to-room, each area well-enough lit for us to be comfortable using various places in our homes, and generally safe-feeling to enter all of the areas of our home and use what the room allows? Can we use the kitchen, living room, bathroom, bedroom, closets, and other areas of our home well, or are there some real challenges?
Do we find our homes spooky or scary rather than pleasant and comfortable?
A time for action
As we head into the winter months where we will be spending more time inside our homes, let’s make sure that they are up to the challenge of having us present most of the time. Any there areas of our homes that we deem unpleasant or that are in need of attention, we should make immediate plans to address.
Let’s not head into another wintertime ill-prepared for a functional and rewarding home experience.