Who has to work on Christmas

[solobiker]

Okay, I asked this same question about Thanksgiving. Working on that day was not too bad. It was pretty quiet and I got a lot done. Well, this will be my first Christmas having to work. I don't think it will be too bad. At least I hope it won't and I keep reminding myself that the resident's don't want to be there either. ( I am an OT/director in a nursing home) I know that several of the resident's don't have any family or if they do the family does not visit them on this day so Christmas can be quite sad for them. I will make it my mission on this holiday to visit with them as much as I can. I know it sounds sappy but that will be my "gift" to them even if it is just a smile and a hug. Gosh I am such a sap

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

It's people like you that make this world a better place.

There is very little sadder than the lonely sick forgotten people in the nursing homes whose families no longer visit them.

[lunacycles]

You aren't a sap and sharing this helps us all to remember what the holidays are really about. Spending your "biggest holiday" on the clock being present for people who have no one else there for them....

that is truly the christmas spirit.

thank you.

[Midmichigangal]

I have Christmas off, the one day of the year that Meijer is actually closed.

[LoriO]

I'm a 911 dispatcher so we work 24/7 365 days a week. Holidays just seem to blur into any other day for me since I work most holidays. I will be working Christmas morning but get off at 7 am which works well for me. AFter I get out of work I can zip to the barn and feed the horses for my barn manager so she can have Christmas morning off and then go home myself and enjoy Christmas with hubby.

[jesvetmed]

Solo: That breaks my heart. You are amazing... I hope you find some way to brighten each of their days.

I will be working overnight Christmas Eve, and Christmas Night. (6pm to 8am both days). Hopefully we won't be too busy (all that Christmas chocolate for the dogs to eat may come to haunt me!). Work has been extremely slow lately -- people that are worried about finances don't go to the ER with their pet unless it's really bad. Our business is WAY down, but I get in some good reading, net surfing and napping. So maybe I'll get to be awake on Christmas Day a bit.

Solo -- you'll be in my thoughts that day. You and all of your residents. That reminds me... I have a bag of stuffed toys I gathered from a huge garage sale we had this summer for breast cancer. Instead of taking them to the good will, I think I'll find some way to get them to the nursing home or hospital for Christmas. They are not new -- do you think that would matter?

[bmccasland]

Lori - I used to be a 911 dispatcher, and hopefully you won't have any Christmas tree fires. Seems I had one every year. Parents ("Santa") would leave the lights on so it would be all sparkly and pretty when the kiddies woke in the morning. Unfortunately the tree was pretty dry by then too.

Solo - I'm sure your residents will appreciate the hugs, wear something silly, wear a Santa hat with jingle bells. Any Church choirs willing to come around? Scout groups?

I won't be working Christmas day, but will be working Christmas week - on a hurricane levee project. After a series of articles in our local paper, about sea level rise and ground level subsidence, giving us a net loss of 4 feet elevation in 100 years, it all seems so hopeless. Bah humbug!

[Triskeliongirl]

Where I work we actually had a campaign called toys for sick children where we brought in unwrapped gifts to be distributed to children in the hospital on christmas day. Maybe you can find a similar program in your area, and ask if they mind if they are used. I guess the only reason it may matter is if these kids are so sick they may worry about allergens or infectious agents in used toys, but I have no clue.

That reminds me... I have a bag of stuffed toys I gathered from a huge garage sale we had this summer for breast cancer. Instead of taking them to the good will, I think I'll find some way to get them to the nursing home or hospital for Christmas. They are not new -- do you think that would matter?

[solobiker]

Solo: That breaks my heart. You are amazing... I hope you find some way to brighten each of their days.

I will be working overnight Christmas Eve, and Christmas Night. (6pm to 8am both days). Hopefully we won't be too busy (all that Christmas chocolate for the dogs to eat may come to haunt me!). Work has been extremely slow lately -- people that are worried about finances don't go to the ER with their pet unless it's really bad. Our business is WAY down, but I get in some good reading, net surfing and napping. So maybe I'll get to be awake on Christmas Day a bit.

Solo -- you'll be in my thoughts that day. You and all of your residents. That reminds me... I have a bag of stuffed toys I gathered from a huge garage sale we had this summer for breast cancer. Instead of taking them to the good will, I think I'll find some way to get them to the nursing home or hospital for Christmas. They are not new -- do you think that would matter?

It depends upon the nursing home. I know where I have worked they have used stuffed toys as prizes for bingo and other games. The have also tied these animals to their call light strings to make them easier to pull and it looks less institutional.

[LoriO]

That reminds me... I have a bag of stuffed toys I gathered from a huge garage sale we had this summer for breast cancer. Instead of taking them to the good will, I think I'll find some way to get them to the nursing home or hospital for Christmas. They are not new -- do you think that would matter?

If they are in really good condition you can also consider donating them to your local police or fire department. Most PD/FD's now keep stuffed animals in their cruisers or apparatus to give out to young children at the scene of an incident. My fire department always had small teddy bears on our trucks and you can really see how much it would help. It gives the child something to cling to and really help them through a traumatic situation!