When is Grandparents Day?
In the US, Grandparents Day is the first Sunday after Labor Day: Sunday, September 12, 2027. Congress asked for it in 1978, and President Carter proclaimed the first one for September 10, 1978.
Who’s in it?
Pay, and it’s ready in about 20 seconds
Four pictures to pick from, no watermark, a link that opens on any phone. We email it to you too.
Sent. Its link opens this card.
Find Labor Day, wait six days, and you've found Grandparents Day: Sunday, September 12, in 2027. Unlike most family days online, this one is in federal law. Congress asked for it in 1978, President Carter proclaimed the first one that August, and a 1979 law made it every year.
Because it follows Labor Day, the date moves, which is why so many people search for it. Below: the dates through 2031, the law and the West Virginia grandmother behind it, lines to send that aren't birthday wishes, and how we made a card that puts Grandpa in a tiara at a tiny tea party.
Cards made from your photos
Grandparents Day dates, 2027 to 2031
Labor Day is the first Monday in September. Grandparents Day is the Sunday after it, so it always lands between September 7 and 13.
That's why some calendars call it the second Sunday in September. They're right most years and wrong in years like 2031, when September starts on a Monday. And 2028 lands on September 10, the same date as the very first national Grandparents Day in 1978.
| Year | Labor Day | Grandparents Day | Sunday of September |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2027 | Mon, Sept 6 | Sun, Sept 12 | Second |
| 2028 | Mon, Sept 4 | Sun, Sept 10 | Second |
| 2029 | Mon, Sept 3 | Sun, Sept 9 | Second |
| 2030 | Mon, Sept 2 | Sun, Sept 8 | Second |
| 2031 | Mon, Sept 1 | Sun, Sept 7 | First |
Is Grandparents Day an official holiday?
Yes, as a national observance. Public Law 95-325, approved July 28, 1978, asked the President to proclaim the first Sunday of September after Labor Day in 1978 as National Grandparents Day (congress.gov/95/statute/STATUTE-92/STATUTE-92-Pg398.pdf). President Carter signed Proclamation 4580 on August 3, 1978, naming Sunday, September 10 (presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-4580-national-grandparents-day-1978).
That first law covered one year. A 1979 law made the request annual, and today it sits in the US Code, which asks the President to proclaim the first Sunday in September after Labor Day as National Grandparents Day every year (law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/36/125). Nobody gets a day off for it, but it's a Sunday, so most people already have one.
Carter's proclamation also says the elders of each family are responsible for setting the family's moral tone. Grandparents have been acting on that clause since long before 1978.
Credit for the idea usually goes to Marian McQuade, a West Virginia mother of 15 who campaigned for a grandparents' day in the 1970s; West Virginia had one before the country did. Other countries pick their own dates. The UK uses the first Sunday in October. Poland gives each grandparent a separate day, Grandma's Day on January 21 and Grandpa's Day on January 22, which is the most diplomatic solution anyone has found.
What to send your grandparents on Grandparents Day
A Grandparents Day note isn't a birthday card, so skip the age jokes and thank them for something specific.
For birthdays, see birthday wishes for Grandma and birthday wishes for Grandpa. December has its own page of Christmas messages for grandparents. For the Sunday after Labor Day:
- Happy Grandparents Day. Congress made it official in 1978. You were official long before that.
- Thank you for every "don't tell your mother." I never did.
- Happy Grandparents Day to the only people who think my drawings belong in a frame.
- From a little grandkid: Your house is my favorite sleepover. The pancakes are a big part of it.
- From a grown grandkid: I still hear your advice in your voice. Mostly the part about wearing a coat.
- From the whole family: There'd be no us without you. Literally.
- For a great-grandparent: Four generations, and you still run the group photo.
- From far away: I can't come over this Sunday, so here's a card instead. Call me after.
How we made the Pinkies Up, Grandpa card
Some cards start with a joke. This one started with a picture almost everyone has seen: a grandfather at his granddaughter's tea party, on a chair built for someone nearly 80 years younger, taking it completely seriously.
It's a two-photo card. The first photo is the star, so Grandpa goes first and his granddaughter joins him. He wears a sparkly plastic tiara and a pink feather boa over his own shirt, knees up high, holding a tiny teacup by its tiny handle with his pinky out. She pours pretend tea and beams. Teddy bears fill the other chairs.
Our test grandpa was Walter, 82: bald on top, big ears, thick glasses, plaid flannel. His hostess was Anaya, 4, in pigtails. Neither exists, which hasn't stopped them from having tea together at least nine times.
The pinky was the hard part. In one take Walter raised his index finger instead, like a man about to send the tea back. In another he gave a thumbs-up while Anaya poured the tea straight onto the cupcakes.
Two rules are written into the card. Don't make the grandparent look younger: takes love to knock years off an 82-year-old, and then he's somebody else's grandpa. And the child stays sweet and is never the joke. Grandpa is the joke. He has made his peace with it.
In the video he takes one tiny, very proper sip and nods like a judge. She reaches over and puts a second tiara on top of the first. He keeps a straight face for one beat, then breaks.
Grandparents Day ideas for a Sunday
Most of these work in person or over a video call. Hold the phone higher than they do.
- Ask them one question about the year they were your age, and write the answer down.
- Cook one of their recipes, send a photo of how it went, and let them correct you.
- Get all the generations into one picture, even if the youngest is asleep in it.
- Go through one old photo album together and ask who everyone is. Take notes; there will be a test.
- Send a card with them in it. Grandpa in a tiara is optional but encouraged.
How it works
- Pick a cardPilots, mermaids, rock stars, one very surprised cake. Every one shows a real example first.
- Add their photosOne clear face each, up to 5 people. A selfie is fine. No sign-up.
- Preview it, then payOne picture of them in the card in about 10 seconds. Like it? Apple Pay or Google Pay, and four pictures arrive about 20 seconds later, the video in about 90.
Who founded Grandparents Day?
Credit usually goes to Marian McQuade of West Virginia, a mother of 15 who campaigned for it in the 1970s. Congress and President Carter made it national in 1978.
What is the official flower of Grandparents Day?
The forget-me-not is the flower the day's promoters named. It blooms in spring and the day is in September, but nobody seems to mind.
Do schools still have Grandparents Day?
Plenty do, but each school sets its own date, often a weekday near the national Sunday. Check the school calendar, then send a card for the real one.
Which is correct: "grandparent's" or "grandparents"?
The law spells it National Grandparents Day, plural, no apostrophe. Grandparents' Day, with the apostrophe after the s, is fine too. Grandparent's Day would be a day for exactly one grandparent, which is a family argument waiting to happen.
By HiWith (Winding AI, Inc.) · support@winding.ai · Updated