Generations connect over juice and scones

October 10, 2024

“How come you have really little hair?” said one little boy to Fr Vince, at a morning tea for older parishioners and children from Our Lady Star of the Sea Early Learning Centre in Terrigal. “Oh, on here?” Fr Vince said, pointing to the top of his head. “Yes, but don’t worry,” the little boy said. “It will grow back!”

The morning tea was inspired by the desire to create an intergenerational program where the pre-schoolers from the Early Learning Centre and older parishioners could connect and share their knowledge and experiences.

“After watching the show ‘Old People’s Home for 4 Year Olds’ we looked at how we could do something similar in our community,” said Early Learning Centre Director, Bronwyn. “We knew that many of our families had grandparents who lived a long way away, either interstate or overseas, and that they would benefit by having that intergenerational connection.”

We hosted a morning tea after Mass and were delighted to have over 30 parishioners join us! The morning tea was planned to coincide with the Feast Day of Jesus’ grandparents, St Anne and St Joachim, as well as World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly. “On the day before the morning tea, we made lemon myrtle scones,” says Bronwyn. “We’re famous for those scones!

The children prepared hand written menus and they were very excited in the lead up to the morning. When the parishioners arrived, we gave them a warm welcome and the children did an Acknowledgement of Country using some sign language. The children used special order pads with visuals to take orders and helped with pouring the juice and serving it.”

The feedback from parishioners was fantastic. “They loved it!” Bronwyn says. “As I watched on, I found that the little conversations and exchanges were what made the morning so special.

When it was time to wrap up, one of the parishioners asked if the morning tea could happen again. “This isn’t just a one off, is it?” Bronwyn says that the plan is to host two morning teas per term and is excited about the potential for this initiative to strengthen the ELC’s relationship with the parish. “We would love to develop an ongoing relationship with parishioners and to build that sense of belonging within the parish community.”

The process of establishing this initiative has shown the natural resistance we have at times to stepping outside our comfort zone and connecting with people outside our immediate circles. One elderly gentleman had previously said that he couldn’t stay back after Mass for the morning tea. But it only took the invitation of one small child to get him to stay and potentially open his world, even if just for a day. “I have to stay now,” he said, “the children have asked me to!”

Playwright George Bernard Shaw said, “We don’t stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing.”

In a post-COVID world where social isolation among the elderly is prevalent and where many young children have limited opportunities to learn from older generations, this initiative is, indeed, a win-win.