7 Ways to Honor Grandparents Day.
In 1970, a West Virginia woman named Marian McQuade, a mother of 15 children, started her campaign for a brand new holiday that would be known as National Grandparents Day. After another three years, the state in which she was raised had the very first Grandparents Day celebration in the United States.
As a result of President Jimmy Carter’s signature on the enacting legislation in 1978, the day was subsequently designated as a national holiday.
The initial proclamation for Grandparents Day stated that its goals were “to celebrate grandparents and to offer grandparents a chance to exhibit affection for their children’s children.” These are still valid goals for the holiday.
There are times when our connections with the grandparents in our life are wonderful, and there are also moments when those ties may be difficult. However, the Scripture, just like the proclamation, instructs us to revere one another and to show love and devotion to one another (Romans 12:10).
Therefore, regardless of whether you find it simple or challenging to celebrate and be thankful for grandparents, and regardless of whether you live close to or far away from the grandparents in your life, here are ten ideas to help our kids (and us!) carry out the encouragement given in the Bible to honor them in a special way!
7 Creative Ways to Honor Our Grandparents on Their Special Day
Create a video with your children performing a favorite song or talking about the things that you and your children love about them, and then send it to them over email or text message.
Prepare a sweet treat for them and present it to them. If they live a long distance away, you may have cookies, fruit, or flowers delivered to their house, or you can even send them a care package!
If you have the opportunity, go through an old picture album of your family or view some old videos about your family. When my children were little, this was one of my grandmother’s favorite activities, and they always had a great time listening to her tell tales about her childhood in the United States during the Great Depression.
Join a grandparent in a game of cards, a board game, or a puzzle-solving activity. This is frequently a wonderful method to connect with a grandparent who may be the more reserved kind and not want to have lengthy chats with their grandchildren.
Even if a grandparent or great-grandparent has memory loss and finds it difficult to carry on a conversation, there is a good chance that they will still be able to recall how to play board games and puzzles from their youth.
During the last years of my grandmother’s life, while she was coping with the ravages of dementia, this is something that my children often did with my grandma. They spent a lot of time together playing games like Scrabble and Sorry!
Don’t forget to pay a visit to the grandparents in your life! This is of utmost significance if you do not visit your great-grandparents very frequently or if you have a great-grandparent who resides in an assisted living facility or nursing home. They like it when you pay them attention!
When I was a youngster, one of my favorite things to do was to pay a visit to my great-grandmother who lived in a nursing facility. She would make an elaborate production out of preparing special sweets for us, such as Hershey’s Kisses and colorful pillow mints, and then she would proudly display the coloring pages we had completed.
If the grandparents live too far away to visit in person, try calling them on Skype or surprising them with a FaceTime call; my parents find these activities quite enjoyable. You should get your children ready to greet their grandparents on a happy Grandparents Day and then share with them something they appreciate that their grandparents do for them or a reason why they are grateful to have Grandma and Grandpa in their lives.
Throw them a “party” in which you celebrate the fact that they are now grandparents. Prepare the meals and music that they like the most for them, and serve both. Put on a play or a skit, and hang handmade decorations all over the place. Although this strategy will probably only work if you live in close proximity to one another, you certainly have room for creativity!
Create a card (this one should be easy yet effective!). Decorate a piece of paper, write out a Scripture passage as a prayer, or write out a Scripture verse that expresses a characteristic of character that you appreciate in your grandmother, and then mail it to them or give it to them as a gift!
Whether your family lives close by or far away, you could organize a “Storyhour” for your grandparents to talk about their youth. There are a lot of very cool things that your children will pick up from the wisdom of older people.
You may browse the internet for questions to ask, or you can simply listen to what they have to say. Remember to maintain a record of it so you can look back on it later.
In celebration of Grandparents Day, call out to your local church, community center, or nursing home to see if there are any senior citizens with whom you may cultivate a relationship and “adopt” a grandmother for yourself. You may assist them with their yard chores, go shopping with them, or just listen to the things they have to tell.
The celebration of Grandparents Day is a wonderful opportunity to show appreciation to all grandparents, particularly those who may not live in close proximity to their own children and grandchildren.
On Grandparents Day this year, I hope these suggestions may serve as a source of inspiration for you to recognize the grandparents in your life in a unique way.
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