Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children. ~Alex Haley
Did you know this Sunday was Grandparents Day? It’s not a day that has caught on with special advertisements for grandparent gifts or cards to send or visits to make. But it’s still fun to have a day to remember our grandparents. Grandparent Sunday was made official in 1978.
The USA-based Grandparents Day originated with a housewife in Fayette County, WV. Marian McQuade’s primary motivation was to promote the need to pay attention of lonel y elderly people in nursing homes. She also hoped to persuade grandchildren to listen and learn from the years of wisdom of their grandparents. President Jimmy Carter proclaimed a National Grandparents Day in 1978. This is celebrated every year on the first Sunday after Labor Day.
I always like to put some special quotes and sayings in our church bulletin on Grandparents Day. I’m sharing some of what I’ve gleaned off the internet, etc. through the years about grandparents. Hope you enjoy some of them.
THOUGHTS ON BEING A GRANDPARENT
* Grandmothers are moms with lots of frosting.
* Grandmas never run out of hugs, cookies or treats.
* It’s such a grand thing to be a mother of a mother; that’s why the world calls her a grandmother.
* Grandparents are short on criticism and long on love.
* A grandparent is old on the outside, but young on the inside.
* One of the most powerful handclasps is that of a new grandbaby around the finger of a grandfather.
“God created your face. You create the expression.” — Grandma’s Sayings by Bill Keane
A grandmother pretends she doesn’t know who you are on Halloween. …Erma Bombeck
What a bargain grandchildren are! I give them my loose change, and they give me a million dollars worth of pleasure. ~Gene Perret
Few things are more delightful than grandchildren fighting over your lap. ~Doug Larson
I hope you had good grandparents who did sprinkle that magic stardust over you to make you feel especially loved.
And then many of us are the ones who want to spill that special grandparent love on our own grandchildren or on other children in our lives whether they are family or simply children you know and have taken to your heart.
This last picture is my aunt holding my sisters. She never married or had children. So, she wasn’t a grandparent in the strict definition of the word, but she was the best grandmother three little girls could have ever had. She loved like a granny even if we never called her that.
So, I hope you had someone like that in your life or were or are that someone to a child.
Happy Grandparents Day!
One last quote.
“My grandchild has taught me what true love means. It means watching Scooby Doo cartoons while the basketball (or football) game is on another channel.” ~Gene Perret
If you have a minute, share something about your grandparents or grandchildren.
The top picture if my mom with her grandson and very new great grandson. Mom loved all the babies.
The two pictures in the middle are my grandchildren posing with me several years ago. Somehow I turned around twice and they all grew up.
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I have very few memories of my maternal grandparents, they both passed when I was young, three and four years old. I have none of my paternal grandmother, as she died when I was a baby, and a few of my paternal grandfather, who I’ve heard horror stories about. He mellowed when he got older, though I don’t have very good memories of him.
Author
Sounds you missed out on the loving grandparents, Trudy. Hope you have other family members that filled in for that loss. I barely remember my maternal grandfather and my maternal grandmother. They both died when I was very young.
Especially enjoyed your reflections on the joys of grandparenting.
My parents were the best grandparents ever, so I had good teachers in the art of grandparenting. Dad was still going to amusement parks with his Grands at 75.
My parents have been gone twenty years. My children still talk about their grandparents and all they dd together.
My grandchildren are 16, 14, and 7. The older two were 800 miles away, but we made
the most of our computer face time. One computer visit, their dad told the kids they
would have to say good-bye to Grandma, as he was going to he grocery store.
My grand-daughter said, “Grandma is on the computer, she can watch us!”
Author
Aren’t we blessed to be able to keep in touch with our far flung family members these days, Patti? I often think when I’m writing a story set back in the 1700s or maybe in the early 1800s that once those family members went off to the frontier, they had a good chance of never seeing and rarely hearing from their families. That had to be so hard.
I’m glad you can keep enjoying your grandkids even through a screen.
I love the quotes about grandparents. Thank you.
I got to spend Grandparent’s Day with my beautiful grands, and their significant others, along with my offspring that gave me the blessing of grand parenthood.
I was raised in the north, and my maternal grandparents were in North Carolina. Every year, when school was out, we headed to Gastonia, NC for two weeks. Those two weeks were the absolute highlight of my year. There was always a Banana Pudding, Fried Chicken, Wilted Lettuce Salad, and fresh green beans waiting on us when we arrived. The aunts, uncles, and cousins by the dozens all “piled” into Grammaw and Grampaw Davis’ little house, and the chaotic, blessed fun began.
All the aunts, uncles, and grandparents have gone on now, and some of my precious cousins too, but those two weeks every summer are still the fondest memories of my childhood.
Also, happy early birthday to you, my birthday twin! I think of you every Sept. 15.
Be blessed, and keep on writing!
Author
Fun to share a birthday with you, Brenda. Hope you had a good day. And thanks for sharing your memories. It sounds like a fun time when you visited. Some of my cousins lived in the next county and we visited every Sunday, first at their house and then ours. The same as you, I remember those as the best times when I was a kid.
I have a huge legacy of memories of my grandparents. I was blessed with my maternal grandmother for 53 years. And all my other grandparents, plus maternal great-grandparents up into adulthood. They each taught me important life lessons with patience and love. And I had a special aunt too that treated me and my brothers as her own. She gave me a love to travel and adventure. I miss her random phone calls of “what are you doing this weekend? Let’s go see what we can find.” 🙂
Author
Sounds as if you have been gifted with plenty of love from a nice array of loved ones, Lavon. I wasn’t as blessed. One grandmother died before I turned two. One grandfather died when I was five. My other grandmother wasn’t the granny type. She loved us in her own quiet way, but never as an over the moon in love with her grandchildren. She was the pat on a head and smile type of granny. My grandfather was in his late 80s before I remember much about him. He did a lot of sitting and thinking and not much talking.
My husband and I love being grandparents. We’re called Mimi and Bop. 🙂 God blessed us with biological grandchildren and neighborhood grandchildren. 🙂
Author
Bop – that’s one I’ve not heard before, Melissa. My brother-in-law goes my Pops. Sister-in-law is Moms. How very special that you’ve added to your blessings by enjoying some neighborhood kids too. I’m sure they’ve enjoyed your stories.