A Day Worth Celebrating

Today is Grandparents Day. And, I for one happen to know my two kids have three of the best sets of grandparents ever. When I married Paul I knew I was lucky, well for one b/c I was marrying him and two because he had a much larger family than my own. Not only that but he was lucky enough to have a mom and a step mom, a father and a step father. Now back then kids were the furthest thing from my mind, but once the discussion came up I knew our children would be incredible blessed to have three grandmas and three grandpas to show them love. And, after all these years I was absolutely right. Between my parents and his our kids are incredibly lucky. I honestly couldn't think of anyone better to be their grandparents. So, this post will be all about my kid's grandparents and kind of like a thank you to them w/ a little history.

Here's a little history about Grandparents Day that I never really knew. President Jimmy Carter signed into law in 1978 the national observance of National Grandparents Day. On September 6, 1979, a presidential proclamation was issued making this event official. The proclamation designated the first Sunday following Labor Day as National Grandparents Day. The “Forget-me-not’’ is the official flower and “A Song for Grandma and Grandpa,’’ by Johnny Prill, is the official song of this event. September was chosen for the observance of this event, the month signifying the autumn years of life.

And, here's a poem that I thought was pretty fitting.

Grandparents are special people
with wisdom and pride.
They are always offering love and kindness
and are always there to guide.
They often make you feel so confident
and strong.
Their arms are always open
no matter what you did wrong.
They try to help out in every way
that they can.
They love all their grandchildren the same
whether you're a child, woman or man.
They are always there to listen
and to lend a helping hand.
They show you respect
and they try to understand.
They give their love, devotion and so much more,
that's easy to see.
Grandparents, what perfect examples
of the kind of person that we should be.
- By Stacy Smith

Funny thing about my kids is they never have called any of the grandparents grandma or grandpa. Kailee started calling my mom Nana very early on and soon after my dad Papa. Naturally Justin comes along and that's all he hears Kailee call them, so he took it for him to use as well. Confusing you would think, but Kailee has her system. My mom and dad are Nana and Papa from Texas. Paul's Dad and Step mom are Nana and Papa from Vegas with the pool and the Nana who loves turtles. Paul's Mom and Barry are Nana and Papa from Vegas with the stairs and the Nana who takes her shopping. I know Paul's mom has tried and tried to get Kailee to call her grandma and occasionally she will when she's here or we are there, but she always refers to her as Nana when talking about her. Just the name Kailee came up for everyone and chooses to use. Kailee even coaches Justin when we look at pics explaining to him who each one is and how.

I personally want to thank my mom, dad, Maryann, Barry, Mariellen and Paul for being the best grandparents ever. You guys do so much for the kids and us that I doubt we could ever really thank you. The kids love you and so do we. So here's hoping you have a great day celebrating being the best grandparents ever.

P.S. Kailee and Justin made all of you grandparents a Grandparents Day gift and I put them in the mail. So be on the look out.


Here's the official song for Grandparents Day as mentioned above.