It was Grandparents Day at school today.  Could there be a sweeter school event? I don’t think so. All the grandparents and great grandparents stroll through the hallways looking for the right classroom, smiling ear to ear.  They’ll play games, make crafts, watch plays, whatever you ask of them. But, more than anything, they just want to hug and kiss that little girl or boy they’ve come to see.

Today our grade level met together with all the grandparents in the multipurpose room where we made thumbprint bookmarks.  First the grandchild inks up their thumb with washable ink and presses it in a slant on a blank cardstock bookmark. The grandparent also does this but presses their thumb on an opposite slant, thereby creating a thumbprint heart - a little of of the grandparent and a little of grandchild.  Each grandparent makes one. And each child makes one for each of the grandparents. After this, they are asked to write a special message and the year, creating a keepsake for the years to come.

In past years, I’ve watched children take out the bookmarks and read the message over and over again. They just prize these little bookmarks. I can’t help but think about what a positive feeling this creates around reading for a child.

I wonder which children and grandparents will pull these keepsake bookmarks out of a box in twenty years and remember this special day.  Who will think, “I have Nana’s thumbprint with mine!” or “I remember when Pop-pop came to school dressed up in his sports coat and made this with me.”

My parents were two of the most wonderful grandparents to my four children, and I sometimes come across pictures from over 20 years ago when they visited my children's’ schools for Grandparents Day.  They drove all the way from New York to Pennsylvania just because they didn’t want to miss an important event.

Grandparents make the world a better place.