Celebrating Mom and Dad on Parents Day
Parents around the country share many commonalities, one of which is devotion to their children. Children, grown or not, are able to recognize and honor and thank their parents on Parents Day.
Parents Day was officially proclaimed to be a national and recognized day in 1994, when President Bill Clinton signed a resolution that established the fourth Sunday of every July as Parents Day, a day that recognizes and focuses on the efforts, sacrifices and unconditional love that parents bestow on their children. The day honors parents of all ages, races, beliefs and backgrounds. A parent provides children with the love, understanding and support that are unique to the family unit, and each parent is as unique and different as their children.
Churches, schools and community organizations take advantage of the day to recognize the efforts of parents everywhere; their dedication, loyalty and focus on duty when it comes to raising happy, healthy children. The day encourages parents everywhere to celebrate and strengthen the basic family unit in every community within the United States. Many communities celebrate the occasion by holding community dances and events that are geared to place the spotlight on parents who have gone beyond the call of duty, as it were, in providing nurturing, support and teaching to not only their own children, but others within a community. Family is the basic unit of every town in America, whether it’s small or teeming with millions of inhabitants. The most powerful bond in the world is that between parents and children.
Today, more than ever before, the idea of family is held in high esteem, as the twenty-first century brings with it single parent households, rising divorce rates and broken lines of communication. Family is the root of childhood upbringing, and many children only realize the sacrifices and efforts of their parents after they themselves are grown and have children of their own. Being a parent isn’t easy, nor is it a position that offers monetary gains. Parenthood is the ultimate in self-sacrifice and duty, a position that doesn’t end when the children move away from home. Parents will always be parents, no matter how old their children get.
Parents Day is a day when children throughout the country make cards and gifts for their Mother’s and Father’s, and a day when schools have special events to honor those parents. In many school districts around the country, Parents Day is a cause for celebration, and children perform in plays and musical displays meant to honor parenthood in a variety of ways.
Grown children often celebrate the day with phone calls, if they live away from home, and many parents are treated to flowers, candy, and a dinner on their kids. No matter how anyone decides to celebrate Parents Day, it is a day to offer displays of love and affection for the efforts parents have put into child raising. Parents are always there to kiss skinned knees or to lend a supportive shoulder during times of hardship or crisis. Parents will sometimes do anything in their power to help their children through difficulties in life, and in return, children can show recognition of that fact on Parents Day.
Millions of children, whether they’re five or fifty, take the day to thank their parents for all they have done, and many take the opportunity to celebrate the bonds that were begun at birth. Parents are a constant in the lives of many children, and since its inception in 1994, Parents Day has served as an opportunity for children throughout the country to personally reflect on role of parents, not only in their own lives, but in the lives of future generations.