THE elderly woman, white hair brushed and tidy, peach lipstick matching her velour jogging pants, isn't quite sure why she goes to the adult day-care center in Van Nuys, and can't remember how long she's been going there.
"My memory isn't so good anymore," says Irene Overlee, 88, of North Hollywood.
But she remembers every word of "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," and that's all that matters right now to the half-dozen wild-haired toddlers in the center of a circle made up of Overlee and four other seniors. The children are dancing and clapping as the seniors chant the spider ditty -- until, on cue, Overlee and the others reach the line about the rain coming down. In unison, they upturn the contents of a paper bag, causing crumpled, colorful tissue paper to rain down on the floor.
The toddlers squeal with delight. They want to do it again and again. They pick up the papers and refill the bags held open by the five senior citizens, their fun undiluted by the fact that the adults around them have canes, walkers, hearing aids and, in some cases, mild to moderate dementia. These things are all very familiar, for the seniors and youngsters attend day care at the same site.
Children and elderly people increasingly live in age-segregated worlds. Developmental experts say that the growing number of facilities offering intergenerational day care, where seniors like Overlee and young children spend time together, is a partial answer to some undeniable demographics.
Today, 45% of grandparents live more than 200 miles from their most distant grandchild, according to a survey by AARP. Not coincidentally, that's exactly the percentage of grandparents who say they don't see their grandchildren often enough.
To geographical distance, add the fact that huge numbers of young children need day care. About 55% of mothers of infants are in the workforce, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and the 44% of Americans who have both aging parents and children younger than 21 are so squeezed that they've been labeled the "sandwich generation."
Finally, factor in the reality that our population is aging, and that increasing numbers of people will need doses of mental stimulation along with physical care. There are 35 million people older than 65, with that number projected to rise to 55 million by 2020 and nearly 87 million by 2050.
