Grandmother's Day in Russia. Happy holiday, grandparents day in Russia! When is grandpa's day
Grandparents' Day is celebrated annually on October 28 in 30 countries around the world. It does not have an approved single international date for the celebration. In Poland, it was divided into two parts: Grandmothers' Day is celebrated on January 21, and Grandfathers' Day on January 22. In Italy, celebrations take place on the first Sunday in October. In Turkey, it was declared international and is held on February 8, before St. Valentine's Day. In France, the first Sunday of March is celebrated only as Grandmother's Day.
The role of grandparents is invaluable in the life of a young family and the upbringing of grandchildren. When parents devote themselves to work, the older generation comes to their aid. The holiday is dedicated to grandparents.
History and traditions of the holiday
The initiative of holding the event belongs to the Holland Flower Bureau. In Russia, it was first celebrated in 2009. The choice of date is not accidental. In ancient times, it was on October 28 that the Slavs held a holiday to honor the family.
Traditionally, on this day in Russia, grandparents are presented with houseplants, compositions of autumn flowers, they express love and sincere gratitude for the help and care provided.
According to the Guinness Book of Records, the youngest grandmother in the world is 23-year-old Rifka Stanescu from Romania, the oldest long-lived woman on the planet is Jeanne Louise Kalman from France, who lived for 122 years.
Grandparents Day is a good-natured family holiday celebrated all over the world. This day helps to strengthen relationships between generations, create family traditions, and teach the younger generation to respect the elders. We will tell you how this holiday appeared, how it is celebrated in Russia and in other countries, and we will also advise what you can give grandparents.
How did Grandparents' Day come about?
Most folk holidays do not have specific founders, but this day does. Once, representatives of the flower bureau of the Netherlands were rightly indignant that the world celebrates days dedicated to fathers, children, mothers, and there is no separate calendar day for honoring grandparents.
Everyone liked this initiative, and the holiday quickly spread and took root in different countries of the world. Everywhere it is celebrated in different ways, but the main tasks of this day are:
- pay attention to grandparents;
- come to visit relatives;
- spend time and give symbolic gifts.
Celebration traditions in different countries
In Russia, Grandparents' Day has been celebrated since October 28, 2009, but, despite its short history, it already has its own traditions. On this day, it is customary to congratulate grandparents, and a personal visit is considered the best gift. Large families gather at the festive table, and the task of the grandmothers is to feed the guests with delicious homemade food so that no one goes hungry.
Canadians honor members of the older generation in September. If the weather permits, they go out into the countryside and have picnics. Grandchildren always present hand-made crafts to their grandparents.
Especially reverent to the older members of the family are treated in Poland. For them, this holiday takes two whole January days: the first is dedicated to grandmothers, and the second to grandfathers. All relatives gather in the father's house, the housewives treat the children with delicacies, and the older men offer adult guests to treat themselves to strong drinks.
This holiday is very symbolic for Italians. It falls on the first Sunday in October - when Italy celebrates the day of the angels. Grandparents for many are real guardian angels, they help in all matters, and provide moral support.
How to celebrate Grandparents' Day in the country
As a rule, grandparents are passionate about gardening and horticulture, and many of them live in private rural houses, or outside the city. A good sign of attention in this case will be collective assistance in the garden. By the end of October, as a rule, the main part of the work is completed, but there will always be things that have not been done.
In good weather, you can cook barbecue, set the table right in the garden, and celebrate the holiday. Play simple and fun ball games with your kids.
The best gift for grandparents will be handmade crafts from grandchildren. Therefore, you need to prepare for the holiday in advance: you can make an autumn application, cut or burn a picture with a cute inscription on a board or birch bark, draw a picture.
If you are choosing a gift for a gardener, pay attention to the tool that is missing. At the end of October, cleaning the garden, pruning trees, sheltering heat-loving plants is still relevant. As a gift, you can choose a good secateurs or garden shears, a wheelbarrow, or a leaf vacuum cleaner.
Outcome
Grandparents' Day is an important holiday for the whole family, which should be dedicated to older relatives. The celebration can be organized in the country, and before the festive table, help grandparents with gardening.
On October 28, 2015, the Russian Federation will celebrate one of the most wonderful and very sincere holidays - the Day of Grandparents of Russia, our relatives and loved ones, without whose participation often no childhood can be considered complete, most vivid and memorable.
Why is that? Yes, it’s just that our grandparents are for many young people a moral guide in the raging sea of future (especially family) life, and their richest life experience helps not only not to go astray, but also to adequately survive many adversities.
Interestingly, Grandparents' Day in Russia began to be celebrated in 2009 on the initiative of the Dutch Flower Bureau, which was gladly picked up by Russian florists. From here came the festive offering to Russian grandparents that has since become traditional - a potted houseplant, symbolizing the long-term life cycle of a family, from its roots to the very last young sprouts. By the way, the date of celebration - October 28 - was also not chosen by chance, because it completely coincides with the date of the ancient Slavic holiday of honoring the family, and this is also very symbolic.
But how do grandparents celebrate their day abroad? It turns out that this wonderful holiday is very popular in more than thirty countries of the world, in which it is celebrated at various times, in spring, autumn, and winter. And this, mind you, despite the fact that there is also a special Day of the Elderly in the international holiday calendar! That's because what is the worldwide authority and recognition of our dear grandparents (and love for them, of course)!
So, for example, in France, grandmothers are honored annually on the first Sunday in March (in 2015 this will happen on March 1) actually at the national level. On this day, they (and their grandchildren, but only in the company of grandmothers) are provided with free seats in tourist buses for joint sightseeing walks and travels. And in stores for ladies who bear the honorary title of grandmother, grandiose discounts are arranged in special sections (after all, any grandmother is, first of all, a charming Frenchwoman, despite her age and hobbies). Very often this day ends for many French grandmothers with a visit to a restaurant, because local restaurateurs are happy to prepare a special holiday menu for them.
On the first Sunday of September (in 2015 - September 6) Grandparents' Day is celebrated in Canada and the United States. It is customary for Canadians and Americans to celebrate this holiday in the family circle in nature (usually they arrange a barbecue for this), and in absolutely any weather.
In Italy, grandparents, since 2005, celebrate their day on the first Sunday of October (in 2015 - October 4). Catholics have always associated this day with the honoring of guardian angels, so the Italian President Carlo Ciampi, who initiated the unification of these holidays, immediately received the honorary title of "Italy's first grandfather" at the age of 84.
Interestingly, in Poland, grandparents are honored for two days: the first, on January 21, is dedicated exclusively to grandmothers, but grandfathers become “heroes of the day” on January 22. At this time, grandchildren present them with a wide variety of gifts and flowers, and Polish grandmothers (as, indeed, all the grandmothers of the world) heartily treat their most beloved relatives with sweet pies.
Do you have grandparents? Be sure to give them this holiday! After all, their love for you is limitless and, of course, is not limited to just one day. Remember this, please, more often! 
The closest, dearest and dearest people for each person are mom and dad. And in the second place of honor are, of course, grandparents (and for some, even in the first place, slightly edging out their parents).
That is why the calendar of holidays and memorable dates in different countries of the world has such an important holiday as Grandmother's Day or Grandfather's Day, or a holiday that unites both. Next, we will talk about the history of the appearance of the holiday, the traditions of honoring the main characters.
history of the holiday
Let it not seem strange, but the proposal to introduce a new holiday in the world calendar did not come from loving and deeply devoted grandchildren.
The initiators of the celebration were the representatives of the Netherlands, who worked in the Flower Bureau. It was they who proposed to allocate a special day in the calendar for congratulating grandparents, who at that time, as it were, were deprived of the celebrations.
The same employees of the Flower Bureau suggested a way to congratulate dear people. Their proposal is quite understandable - the presentation of flowers, the Dutch at first saw a clear commercial component of the project. This initiative was quickly picked up by Russian colleagues selling flowers, it is clear that for the same reason - to sell flowers and earn money.
Despite this, the holiday in honor of beloved grandparents began to gain momentum, and traditions went far beyond the presentation of flowers.
When and how is the holiday celebrated in 2019
Different countries of the world have their own holidays dedicated to the oldest and most respected family members. The Russian holiday is celebrated on October 28, it is symbolic that by date it coincides with the ancient Slavic celebration dedicated to the family.
In 2019, October 28 falls on Monday, despite the difficult characteristics of this day of the week, you can have a lot of fun not only this day, but the whole week.
Start, of course, on Monday, traditionally handing flowers to grandparents, and then, every day of the week, offer your beloved old people one or another entertainment available to their health - theater, cinema, exhibitions or just walking together.
Traditions and interesting facts of the holiday
The holiday is relatively new, it appeared on the calendar at the end of the 20th century, therefore it does not yet have many traditions. It began with an initiative to give flowers to relatives, and the initiators insisted that the flowers should be alive, not cut, but growing in a pot.
There is a certain symbolism in this - cut flowers wither very quickly, and therefore remind people of withering and death. But flowers growing in a pot can please for many, many years, and even remind that they were presented during a special family celebration.
Grandparents' Day in Russia and abroad
So far, the Russian holiday in honor of grandparents is in its infancy, but many families have their own traditions. In addition to presenting potted flowering plants, parents and children prepare home concerts, performances, make gifts with their own hands, set tables together with the smallest members of the family.
In the matter of celebrating Grandparents' Day, you need to look up to the French, who have on their calendar not just a celebration, but National Grandmother's Day.
It is celebrated annually on March 4, at the highest level, and various trade establishments, cultural institutions, and travel companies join the celebration.
For beloved French women of age, various discounts are offered in stores and shopping centers, bonuses and prizes.
Many cultural and entertainment institutions in France hold concerts, organize exhibitions, events, and free of charge.
For curious grandmothers, I organize free tourist trips around the cities, rich excursion programs. Restaurateurs do not lag behind them, special dishes are prepared for the gala dinner.
There is a holiday in honor of grandparents in the United States and neighboring Canada, it is celebrated in early September (the very first Sunday).
The inhabitants of the American continent have their own tradition, since there are still warm days, families try to go out into the countryside.
As “nature has no bad weather”, so people do not have a bad age, you can enjoy life, children and beloved grandchildren at any age.
Grandparents' Day is usually celebrated on October 28th. This date is one of the warmest, sincere, kind. After all, it is difficult to disagree with the fact that without these people, the childhood of any person would be incredibly monotonous and boring. The number chosen for this celebration is constant and does not change from year to year.
history of the holiday
Such a touching holiday, offering to honor beloved and dear grandparents, began to be celebrated relatively recently. The year of origin of this celebration is 2009. The initiator of the creation of such a date is the Dutch Flower Bureau. The idea was approved and actively picked up by Russian businessmen involved in the flower business. Obviously, the official symbolism of the holiday, which is now associated with potted plants, is also connected with this.
Often a date aimed at honoring and glorifying all grandparents is associated with indoor flowers in a flower pot. They are the unspoken symbols of longevity, family well-being. The whole point is that the ancestors are associated with strong plant roots, and the younger generation with sprouts.
Many are interested in why this particular number was chosen and indicated? Of course, October 28 was not chosen spontaneously. This date completely coincides with the celebration of the day dedicated in the ancient Slavic culture to the veneration of the family. This speaks to the pagan roots of Grandparents' Day, which should not be surprising.
