Parents’ Day – Fourth Sunday of July

May has Mother’s Day, June Father’s Day and did you know there is a Parents’ Day in July – well at least in the United States there is.

In 1994, US President Bill Clinton established the fourth Sunday of every July as Parents’ Day when he signed into law a resolution unanimously adopted by the US Congress. Parents’ Day was created for "recognizing, uplifting, and supporting the role of parents in the rearing of children."

Unlike Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, the National Parents’ Day Council (US) doesn’t see this day as a time to honor parents, rather “a day when parents honor their children and the God-centered family ideal by rededicating themselves to manifest the highest standard of unconditional true love.” Thus they see it as an opportunity to honor excellent parents, particularly outstanding couples as parental role models.

And perhaps Parents’ Day can and should be much broader than this. First, it’s not just about couples as parents. It’s about anyone who steps in to serve in some capacity as a parent – single parents, grandparents, caregivers or teachers. Second, it’s more than just honoring your children. It’s about assessing your skills and abilities as a parent, noticing opportunities for improvement and taking appropriate action. “Simply put, when you become a parent you are not handed a manual that will answer all your questions or cover all situations. For many, the ‘manual’ you bring to parenting is the one you learned from observing your parents.” (Parents’ Handbook: NLP and Common Sense Guide for Family Well-Being, Roger Ellerton, PhD, ISBN 978-1-4251-4790-7)