Celebrating National Grandparent’s Day

National Grandparent’s Day was declared in 1978, giving all families an opportunity to honor grandma and grandpa. Whether they live near or whether they live far, choose this time to celebrate their special place in your family.  

Grandparents have a tremendous impact upon the family as a whole, but especially on their grandchildren. Their words of wisdom combined with their special love and attention provides a special bond which can help shape the future of a child.

One of the best gifts a parent can give to a child is to provide invaluable moments spent with their grandparent. Memories made with that grandparent will stay with that child forever and the grandparent’s positive influence upon that child will help mold the child’s love for strong family values.  In Bert Hayslip’s book, Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, he says, “In light of the phenomenon of custodial grandparenting, it is important to note that positive perceptions of one’s grandparents lay the ground work for the transmission to younger generations of family values, culturally bound traditions and practices and behavioral and vocational expectations, as well as facilitating identity development among children and adolescents….”

Celebrating grandparents should be something we do throughout the year.   As children see their parents honoring their own parents on a regular basis, it may come very natural as the children grow, to see them emulating the same behavior and teaching their own children to do the same.

Check on your parents regularly to see to their needs, providing them with loving gestures of kindness and care.  Grandparents love to especially get phone calls from their grandchildren. Allow your child to call grandma and grandpa throughout the week or have them send a note in the mail. Emails are even more fun for the grandparents to receive, especially if they are accompanied by photos of the grandchildren.

Also, this September, let’s not forget that there are over 3 million grandparents in the United States who are raising their grandchildren. That translates into over 6 million grandchildren living with their grandparents.  This phenomenon is growing by leaps and bounds, yes, even globally.   As divorce rates climb, increase in teen pregnancies, drug addiction, parental incarceration, mental illness and parental abuse and neglect, grandparents find themselves setting more plates on the table. Some of these grandparents are caught off guard, finding grandchildren left on their front porch with nothing but the clothes on their backs.  Some grandparents have seen it coming and just wait for the inevitable.  Plans that these grandparents have made for retirement have to be put on the back burner, possibly not visited again and in place of those plans, future plans for parenting their grandchildren must be made.

This September 11th, let’s celebrate grandparents.  Let’s be thankful and remember the influence that they have had on our lives and the sacrifice many are now giving by raising their grandchildren.  

 —Gail Gallagher

Learn more about the upcoming 4th National Grand Rally for grandparents and other relatives raising children.  Taking place September 15, 2011 in Washington D.C.  www.grandrally.org