Why old people are NOT like babies:

[Anonymous]

Babies have a certain charm about them that makes us want to take care of them. Old people don’t have that charm. They’re not “adorable”, and are therefore, no fun to be around.

[Anonymous]

My Japanese grandmother was adorable for many decades. She was tiny with a really cute face, always happy to see anyone, particularly children, and she would clap and sing with the neighborhood preschoolers when they came to visit her nursing home.

She lost her memory but was still happy until the last year of her life, when she stopped responding and died of Covid complications before the vaccine could be distributed.

I will always remember her as the happiest, cutest, Grandma ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My Japanese grandmother was adorable for many decades. She was tiny with a really cute face, always happy to see anyone, particularly children, and she would clap and sing with the neighborhood preschoolers when they came to visit her nursing home.

She lost her memory but was still happy until the last year of her life, when she stopped responding and died of Covid complications before the vaccine could be distributed.

I will always remember her as the happiest, cutest, Grandma ever.

We had a grandmother in our family very similar. She was very small, didn’t speak much English, and exuded joy, always smiling and laughing. Kids loved her and she loved them.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure this is the right comparison. The issue is that as people age they are more like toddlers who understand the world around them and have opinions on what they like/don't like and want to do. At the same time, they don't have full control of their physical capacities and they may also have impaired judgment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure this is the right comparison. The issue is that as people age they are more like toddlers who understand the world around them and have opinions on what they like/don't like and want to do. At the same time, they don't have full control of their physical capacities and they may also have impaired judgment.

This. And also there's potential in the toddlers. There's no potential in the elderly. Sadly, their lives are behind them. It's fact and science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure this is the right comparison. The issue is that as people age they are more like toddlers who understand the world around them and have opinions on what they like/don't like and want to do. At the same time, they don't have full control of their physical capacities and they may also have impaired judgment.

I work with the elderly, many with memory issues and yes, they are more like toddlers than anything. Especially when it comes to their behaviors when they have difficulty expressing themselves. I've been bit and hit by elderly patients in the same way that toddlers bite and hit when they are scared or angry and can't express it. Sometimes it takes reframing to look at situations differently. Some of my elderly patients have crazy and interesting stories from the past. I enjoy letting them tell me about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Babies have a certain charm about them that makes us want to take care of them. Old people don’t have that charm. They’re not “adorable”, and are therefore, no fun to be around.

How horrible. I love my elderly family members and am grateful to be able to spend time with them and share family memories. People here are so ageist and quickly forget how many contributions many have made to the family.

[Anonymous]

My grandmother was cute but too smart and wise to be a baby.

[Anonymous]

I’m a home health caregiver, mostly with dementia patients and the disabled. My current assignment (15 months now) is with a profoundly demented patient who is nonverbal and immobile. He has cognitive capacity similar to an infant - I cared for a lot of infants in my life and the nice thing about them is that they’re cute and they get more able and cognizant with each passing day so there is joy in watching them develop into themselves.

It’s much harder to care for an adult sized elderly infant who will never know you, speak to you, understand what is happening around them. This particular assignment is burning me out pretty hard because it’s the very worst case scenario of how I would never in a million years want to end up. His body is really fairly healthy all things considered so he could be like this for several more years it’s anyone’s guess - the doctors don’t even know what form of dementia he has because it is very atypical and genetic testing has not clarified the picture at all.

[Anonymous]

OP, you lack humility and perspective.

[Anonymous]

I tell all my 89-year-old demented mother’s caregivers to view my mother as they would a two year old. Batshit crazy mean stuff she says should be no more upsetting to them the temper tantrums of the terrible twos. She is not capable of upsetting me because this is how I lovingly view her — it’s all just like water off a duck’s back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a home health caregiver, mostly with dementia patients and the disabled. My current assignment (15 months now) is with a profoundly demented patient who is nonverbal and immobile. He has cognitive capacity similar to an infant - I cared for a lot of infants in my life and the nice thing about them is that they’re cute and they get more able and cognizant with each passing day so there is joy in watching them develop into themselves.

It’s much harder to care for an adult sized elderly infant who will never know you, speak to you, understand what is happening around them. This particular assignment is burning me out pretty hard because it’s the very worst case scenario of how I would never in a million years want to end up. His body is really fairly healthy all things considered so he could be like this for several more years it’s anyone’s guess - the doctors don’t even know what form of dementia he has because it is very atypical and genetic testing has not clarified the picture at all.

This is so sad and sounds awful for everyone involved. I pray this person gets sick and has a peaceful ending. No human should have to live like this. It’s cruel. We treat our dogs better.

[Anonymous]

The reason we find toddlers adorable is hormonal. Hormones keep us from killing our young. If we didn't find them cute and lovable, they would just be annoying little pooping pests who dimish our resources.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The reason we find toddlers adorable is hormonal. Hormones keep us from killing our young. If we didn't find them cute and lovable, they would just be annoying little pooping pests who dimish our resources.

I (hormonally!) love my children so much but this is so true. Our love for children is an exception, not a rule.

[Anonymous]

As an older person this thread is horrifying. Guess what - we’re all dying, and everyone’s best years are behind them. So what? Older people still have perspectives and wisdom to offer, if only people didn’t write us off immediately.