My kids are the luckiest. They have amazing grandparents who adore them. My parents are retired teachers. Dreamy, I know. They were created to be grandparents and looked forward to that day for a very long time.
I am so grateful that they are in my children's lives. They teach them to notice, to pay attention, to appreciate and to be inquisitive. They inspire and teach them to really see. They give them uninterrupted moments, patience, comfort,humor, their full attention and kindness. They love unconditionally, serve as safe havens and give such a strong sense of belonging, linking a child through generations of elapsed time. Grandparents give our children the feeling that they are delighted to see them and treat their grandchildren as endearing, miraculous gifts.
Today we celebrate Grandparents!
In 1978 Jimmy Carter declared Grandparents Day a national holiday as a day to reflect on the impact grandparents have on our own lives and on society. Carter's original proclamation states that grandparents "are usually free to love and guide and befriend the young without having to take daily responsibility for them, they can often read out past pride and fear of failure and close the space between generations." The official Grandparents Day is celebrated on the first Sunday after Labor Day each year. Check out this website National Grandparent's Day 2012
"Everyone needs to have access both to grandparents and grandchildren in order to be a full human being." - Margaret Mead
My kids share a love of prosciutto, shrimp, cookies, Gram's homemade desserts and secret apple cake, special time spent sharing jokes, planting pumpkins, enjoying soup nights, building and creating projects needing nails and hammers, playing games and piano, science experimenting and spending uninterrupted time.
Below are a few ideas to spend a day celebrating the grandparents. Whether it's the annual Grandparent's Day or a designated special weekend or trip to visit...make spending time with grandparents a priority today.
Things to do together:
- Go through scrapbooks and old photos to see what the grandparents looked like when they were younger. Are there any family resemblances?
- Create a family tree.
- Watch an old family video/movie.
- Dress up like a grandparent and grandparents dress up like the grandkids.
- Make a time capsule.
- Interview the grandparents by making a video of the grandchild asking the grandparent questions.
- Start a family history scrapbook.
- Take an annual photo of the grandparents and grandkids and keep it framed in each child's bedroom.
- Create a menu of dishes based on the grandparents favorite childhood meals.
- Help make grandma's famous recipe for meatballs, molasses cookies, iced raisin bars, apple cake or matzo ball soup.
- Find out what activities the grandparents did to have fun when they were kids and play that with them. (Kick the Can anyone?)
- Start a tradition to have a sleepover on Grandparent's day.
- Go for a family bike ride (exactly what my kids' grandma wanted to do with the whole family to celebrate turning 70!) Here's a great article on getting started biking with grandchildren.
Books to read together:
Lucky Pennies and Hot Chocolate (a favorite for my kids and a great read-aloud book)
Could Be Worse
The Hundred Penny Box
Gus and Grandpa Show and Tell
The Hickory Chair
Grandparent Traditions
Soup Night at Gram and Poppy's - during one especially busy year the grandparents offered to host our clan of six over for dinner once a week for a special soup night. The kids absolutely loved that night spent around Gram and Poppy's table tasting (and voting via a rating card) each week's new soup as prepared by Gram. The meal wouldn't be complete without a special dessert, Gram's specialty, as well as tasty rolls, savory scones and delicious biscuits that accompanied the meal. They will never forget those Soup Nights and frequently request the reincarnation of Soup Nights...if only sports and extracurricular evening events didn't get in the way.
A great family tradition initiated by our Gram and Poppy were the "Hatching Parties" which they hosted a celebreatation each time a grandchild becomes an official reader (passed by reading Frog and Toad Together).
Wednesdays began as Gram Days...and have now morphed into Gram and Poppy afternoons and my nephew has his own days on Thursdays. A mainstay of Gram's time with the kids included read-alouds. Gram's years of teaching allowed her to discover the best of the best books for kids and telling stories is Poppy's forte.
My kids have learned so much and shared so much love with my parents. I am forever grateful for their relationships and can't wait to celebrate them today!
