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Don’t you love it when you find a great tool with plenty of multigenerational uses – perfect for our many Sandwich Generation needs? My senior mom’s iPad is definitely one of those tools I am appreciating more every day!
My mom continues to enjoy her photo app that enables her to look at photos of her many beloved great-grandchildren. And I’ve stuffed it full of some of her favorite audio books. She still struggles with remembering which button does what, particularly since they aren’t always consistent from one program to another. For example, I have an arrow pointing to the button that starts and stops her iTunes audio player. However, if she accidentally hits the button that takes her out of the playlist page, the arrow doesn’t do her any good. Overall, though, she is doing better and really enjoys it.
She has been blessed with a sharing heart in so many ways and that includes the iPad. So we have also loaded it with several of the best kids game apps so the grandkids can sometimes use it when she isn’t. We’ve even added an app of her favorite board game, Chinese Checkers, to play with the grandkids when she gets brave enough. I keep telling her that playing games is one of the best ways to learn a computer. She hasn’t tried it yet, but soon, I hope.
And now, she is doubly thrilled with her iPad. Thanks to Jenn Fowler of Frugal Upstate, I found out that Netflix streaming video has several of the older TV shows our family has enjoyed through the years like MacGyver, Rockford Files, and one that my senior mom had just asked about – Magnum P.I. When I added the Netflix to her iPad, linked to my account, and let her watch Magnum, she was so happy. It reminded her of wonderful vacations she and my dad had enjoyed in Hawaii. What a treat for her!
And what a treat for the grandkids and me to occasionally borrow it to watch some educational shows we like as well as test drive MacGyver (while not perfect, it’s better than a lot of things currently available on TV and my oldest grandson and I really enjoyed watching it together).
Multigenerational fun, via the iPad, is a treat for us all and a BIG help for an uber busy Sandwich Generation caregiver. It can often lead to a few minutes of peace and quiet while cuddling a loved one or letting them listen while we’re off working. How about you? Got any special shows you watch on Netflix? We’d love to hear.
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Love this use of the iPad. My Mom got her first computer at 80, but that was 15 years ago, pre-iPad. She would have loved it.
I love watching some of the old shows — and who doesn’t like MacGyver? Technology is so much fun — even if it is a bit scary to learn at first!
Technology is a marvelous thing!
Even so many of our seniors are now picking up on it. It’s interesting to see how the consistency of buttons can cause some confusion.
Perhaps that is a great business idea, though! Sounds like a need that needs to be met for seniors!