Grandparents' Day – 10 October

This day is a big HOORAY to all grandparents. For where would our families be without them? Not only did they raise us, but they are also there for our kids. This not only takes the pressure off single parents, but also families where both work.

In Switzerland alone, grandparents provide around 100 million hours of unpaid care per year.

But the value of grandparents goes much deeper. They don't just play with their grandchildren and listen to them. They also give them affection, warmth, security and support. Last but not least, they provide an insight into the family's history of origin and pass on their customs.

No wonder, then, that the contact between grandparents and grandchildren is often intensive and hardly weakens at all during and after puberty. This is more than enough reason to spend a day with the grandparents on 10 October and spoil them.

Grandparent's Day was probably celebrated for the first time in the USA. As early as 1969 the nine-year-old Russell Capper wrote to President Nixon and suggested such a holiday, but received a refusal. Marian McQuade had more luck for it a little later.

McQuade began promoting the idea of such a day of honour in 1970 and was successful, although for the time being only in her home state. Fortunately she persisted, and the day was finally proclaimed by US President Jimmy Carter in 1978.

Well, Marian MCQuade was an impressive personality in that she not only had 15 children, but also 43 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

By the way: Marian McQuade came from West Virginia, the same state where Anna Marie Jarvis, the founder of Mother's Day, lived. A remarkable fact!

Grandparents are celebrated in many countries. But the dates are different.

Also, the day of honor is sometimes only for grandmothers or is separate for grandmothers and grandfathers.

Here is an overview:

• 21 January: Poland – only grandmothers (grandfathers one day later)
• 22 January: Poland – grandfathers only (grandmothers one day earlier)
• First Sunday in March: France – grandmothers only (grandfathers in October)
• 4 June: Netherlands – Grandparents
• 26 July: Brazil and Portugal – Grandparents
• 28 August: Mexico – Grandparents
• Last Sunday of August: Taiwan – Grandparents
• Early September: USA – Grandparents (first Sunday after Labor Day)
• Second Sunday in September: Estonia, Canada and Philippines – Grandparents

• 2 October: Italy – Grandparents (also Guardian Angel Festival)
• First Sunday in October: France – grandfathers only (grandmothers in March)
• First Sunday in October: Great Britain – Grandparents
• Second Sunday in October: Germany, Hong Kong – Grandparents
• 10 October: Switzerland – Grandparents
• Last Sunday in October: Australia – Grandparents
• Second Sunday in November: Southern Sudan – Grandparents
• Fourth Sunday in November: Singapore – Grandparents