Monthly Grandparenting Column
by Karen Robbins

Decades ago, literally, I purchased a large corkboard and divided it as evenly as I could with a black marker between five children. Each one had a space where their best drawings, writing, and/or exceptional test papers could be proudly displayed for family and visitors to see. It was a great place to stand and laud praise on the latest posting and to brag to whoever came in or went out the door by our kitchen hallway where the board hung.

The board, full of the last remnants of high school graduation and one certificate for a Microsoft course one of the boys took as an adult, still hung there when it was time for my husband and me to move into our new smaller home. I took a trip down Memory Lane as I removed pictures and test papers and the Microsoft certificate—smiling at the thought that the now adult son still wanted to display his achievement. I considered getting rid of the corkboard. It had served its purpose and I wasn’t sure I had room for it at the new house. Pack rat that I am, I saved it and moved it with us.

Not long after we were in the new home, I decided to hang the corkboard in our mud room where we go in and out to the garage and the side yard. I tacked up a picture or two of the new couples as my boys got married. Then came the wonderful news that we could expect our first grandchild. That first was to be followed by five more. I tacked up pictures of newborns. Then the first scribbles of crayoned papers. Then the first letters of the alphabet written in shaky uncertain script.

My cork board collection has grown and cycled many times as new drawings, writings, and cards are sent to us or made for us during those special visits with grandchildren. It is the first thing our grandchildren see as they come in the door. Once in a while I catch them looking to see if something they have made is up there. Next to my grandma’s wall of portraits where they all smile out at us in the foyer, the corkboard collection is my favorite piece of decoration in my home.

Is there a place in your home for your grandchildren’s creations? Their expressions of love to you? I guarantee that if you set aside a spot to display them, it will warm your heart every time you pass by.