We seem to have a holiday for everything and national holidays to celebrate each year. We just celebrated Mother’s Day and Father’s Day is coming in June. Many families in the United States observe National Grandparents Day on the first Sunday of September after Labor Day.
It seems that the United States has the least number of national holidays according to the Back Story in the New York Times, May 1, talking about May Day celebration for workers around the world, but not in the U.S., which celebrates Labor day in September.
This Grandma wondered if we have a national family day that she has overlooked. Because the U.S. has few national holidays, there is even more justification to create an annual family celebration holiday. Families always seem to get together for a funeral. Families always try to get together for life passage events. We should celebrate good times with our families. Creating a special day brings a family closer.
I found that we have several celebrated family days in the U.S.! According to Wikipedia, Family Day is a public holiday in South Africa, in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Ontario, in the American states of Arizona and Nevada, in Vanuatu, in Vietnam, (as “Family & Community Day”) in the Australian Capital Territory, and as the second day of Songkran in Thailand.
“Family Day is a state holiday in Nevada, celebrated on the day after Thanksgiving, i.e. the Friday following the fourth Thursday in November. ‘American Family Day’ is a state holiday in Arizona and has been celebrated on the first Sunday in August since 1978. . . .The holiday also caught on in several other states, including North Carolina and Georgia. From the Georgia Department of Education Parent Engagement Program, “American Family Day- this day brings families together to share their love and appreciation of one another.”
Be careful on the internet, of course. Various for-profit and not-for-profit groups have references to national family days. What ultimately came up on the internet was a family day celebrated worldwide. International Day of Families is celebrated May 15, and detailed on the United Nations Website:
“The Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993 with resolution A/RES/47/237 and reflects the importance the international community attaches to families. The International Day provides an opportunity to promote awareness of issues relating to families and to increase knowledge of the social, economic and demographic processes affecting families.”
“The International Day of Families has inspired a series of awareness-raising events, including national family days. In many countries, that day provides an opportunity to highlight different areas of interest and importance to families. Activities include workshops and conferences, radio and television programmes, newspaper articles and cultural programmes highlighting relevant themes.” “The 2015 observance of the International Day of Families aims to promote gender equality and rights of children within families. It will also highlight prevention of family violence through fair family law frameworks and a variety of programme interventions.”
So, it seems, that a family can become publically aware and politically involved by participating in the International Day of Families May 15 each year, can celebrate Family Day the day after Thanksgiving, i.e. the Friday following the fourth Thursday in November, can celebrate ‘American Family Day’ on the first Sunday in August. It does not matter that you don’t live in Arizona, or Nevada, or South Carolina, or Georgia. . . .or South Africa.
This Grandma suggests that the annual family celebration day have significance to the individual family. If a family scattered around the U.S. or the world gathers for one holiday, the day after the holiday can be the Family Day, such as Nevada’s Family Day, the Friday after Thanksgiving. For example, if the family collects shells on Sanibel Island every winter shelling season, the family day may be during that vacation. If the family can more easily get together to celebrate in the summer months, adopting American Family Day, the state holiday in Arizona, celebrated on the first Sunday in August might just be the key. If there is a special great grandparent who has died, the special family day can be on that family member’s birthday, and the favorite foods, activities of that treasured family member can be recreated and memories passed to future generations.
Grandmas are the glue to keep the multigenerational family close together. We need as many tools as we can as the parents of the grandchildren are in the building stages of life which are stressful and busy. Creating a special family day to celebrate gives us one more reason to celebrate family life and love and a special family bond. We grandmas have the knowledge to appreciate the importance of family and the time to figure out the when, where, how and when of an annual special family celebration day to perpetuate grandchildren’s family memories and family
Joy,
Mema