When Care Home Entertainment Turns Into a Family Gig

My care home bookings usually follow a familiar pattern. I arrive, settle myself in, meet the residents and staff, have a bit of a chat, and then spend the time I’ve been booked for doing what I love, entertaining people, getting them singing along, having a bit of banter and bringing back memories. That was until the other day, when one of my care home bookings took an unexpected turn. It turned into a family gig, a bit of a family reunion really. 😂

My Auntie Iris lives in a care home, and on this occasion the care home had booked me to come and sing there. They’d even put up posters with my face on them. Auntie Iris spotted the posters and phoned my mum. “Karen’s coming!”

So Mum decided she’d come along too, partly to see Iris, and partly, I suppose, to see me doing what I do. And, as these things tend to happen in families, Uncle Ronnie, Auntie Doreen and Cousin Jennifer came along too. Jennifer is Iris’s daughter. At this point, I realised this wasn’t really just a care home booking anymore. I’d accidentally booked myself a family gig. 😂

This was a new care home for me, so there were new residents to meet, staff to get to know and a new room to get familiar with. And now I had Mum, Auntie Iris, Uncle Ronnie, Auntie Doreen and Cousin Jennifer sitting there too.

So, before I started, I had to establish a few family rules. This was not going to turn into a family conference while I was trying to entertain everyone. So with the family rules established, I got on with the job in hand, the job that I love, singing and entertaining.

Once I started, I soon got into my usual rhythm. We sang some beautiful songs, had a bit of banter, and before long I was just doing what I normally do. I had some lovely feedback from my family afterwards, and, very importantly, some lovely feedback from the residents too. All in all, it was a really sweet day, one I thoroughly enjoyed.

And, as with so many of my care home visits, there was plenty to laugh about, plenty to remember, and another reminder of why I love what I do, creating moments that matter. 💗