According to Wikipedia:
In most of Canada, Family Day is a statutory holiday occurring on the third Monday in February. This corresponds with Presidents Day in the United States. In the provinces of Manitoba and Prince Edward Island, the statutory holiday on this date is instead termed Louis Riel Day and Islander Day, respectively.
And…
After Dalton McGuinty’s appointment as premier was supported by the election, McGuinty advised the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario David Onley to establish Family Day on 11 October 2007, with the first being observed on 18 February 2008. Its creation raised Ontario’s number of public holidays to nine per year, Unionized workers whose collective agreements do not yet include this holiday will continue to work on Family Day.
My Husband, ever the cynic, loves to joke about this holiday. “They should call it: Please Oh Please Vote For Me and I’ll Give You a Day Off in February Just Like the American’s Have Day.” Which refers of course to the above paragraph.
My 16 year old son does not care how it came about. He does not care why it came about. He does not care what it is suppose to celebrate. He is however delighted that he can sleep in and does not have to go to school.
I however find this newly generated holiday quite interesting. It is interesting to me that the holiday also arrives close to Valentine’s Day. When I was young and in love Valentine’s Day was all about doing romantic stuff with your boyfriend and dinner out and roses and candy. I’m older now, and still in love, but once you have kids past the age of 2 it becomes more about them. You find yourself hanging heart shaped cling-ons on the big glass patio door. You make heart shaped pancakes for breakfast. You help them fill out the little Valentine’s Day Cards for their class. Rolling Family Day and Valentine’s Day up into one long weekend Family Love Fest is certainly an appropriate way to go.
The first year it was held it seemed no one knew quite what to do with themselves. That is slowly changing as families and businesses start to form new traditions. The City of Mississauga has really stepped up to fill a void. Many of the usual fun places to go will be closed that day, but it is the perfect day to set aside to get out and get active with your kids. If you check our website you will find an article with some great ideas on Family Day Activities in Mississauga.
As we explore this new holiday families will begin developing traditions of their own. Our family went up to the cottage for the last 2 Family Days. It is more like luxury camping in the winter. There is no running water. We bucket water up from a hole my husband drills in the lake so we can flush the toilet. We do have electric heat, the refrigerator, stove and the tiny TV that is not hooked up to cable all work. We read books, play board games, and force our son to watch old black and white movies. (Because of this he knows that: “Badges? We don’t need no stinking badges!” is not an original Cheech and Chong line, but actually comes from the 1948 movie “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” with Humphry Bogart.)
This year however we will be staying in Mississauga. My son is taking his WSI (Water Safety Instructors) course with the city and needs to be in town Sunday afternoon. And that’s okay! The Olympics are going to be starting that week and we are going to love watching those on our high def TV in the city. So I think I’ll cook up something yummy for dinner (TBD) and I’ll take some time to make a home made chocolate cake with white icing in my heart shaped cake tins. It’s going to be a cozy relaxed Olympic Family Valentine at our house!
What does Family Day mean to you? What will you be doing? If you leave us a comment about Family Day below AND fill out our contest form you’ll be entered to win a Playdium family prize pack of 4 X 160 credit Playcards valid anytime! For rules and additional details check our Mississauga Kids Contest Page!
12:23 pm on February 2nd, 2010
Don’t forget to leave a comment here if you want to win the Playdium Family Prize Pack!
Tell us how you celebrate Family Day? What does Family DAy mean to you?
12:50 pm on February 2nd, 2010
It means spending quality time with the kids and just having FUN!!!
2:16 pm on February 2nd, 2010
To me Family Day means a time to connect and create memories, as such we have chosen to do a mini-vacation on the Family Day weekend. Every year we pick a nearby city/town and do different activities & experiences there. This year we chose Ottawa so we could have fun at Winterlude as a Family! We are looking forward to skating on the Cannel, Going to Gatineau Park, The Nature Museum & more!
9:12 pm on February 9th, 2010
In truth, I have yet to experience family day. My old job did not have its US conferences arranged around this day so I always worked. This year will be different. This year I will see my family and even though I will be working, I will be working with families to have a lot of fun! This year family day will be about hugs and kisses, instead of emails and phone calls. Thank goodness I have a family to celebrate!
6:36 pm on February 13th, 2010
This is a day that I treasure, I work all the time, at least 6 days a week, this whole weekend I planned different activites for my 5 yr.old, today, we went to the international center kidfest, tomorrow at harborfrount and monday is movie day. My daughter is looking forward to spending quality time with mommy & daddy on this special day. Happy Family Day!
12:47 am on February 15th, 2010
To me Family Day means just spending time together and having fun by doing activities which everyone enjoys
11:32 am on February 15th, 2010
Family Day means that everyone can enjoy each other doing whatever we want to do. We just moved to this city last summer and it’s a day that we can all go and explore what we can do next! HAPPY FAMILY DAY!
12:17 pm on February 15th, 2010
We have five wonderful children ages, 10,8,4, and twin 2 year olds.
Family day is a day that is about enjoying each others company from staying in pj’s to going out swimming.
No homework, no work calls, no e-mail replies.
It’s about stopping the everyday and enjoying today as a Family. We are always running to appointments, gymnastics, school, etc….it’s great to be able to stop and reconnect as a Family.
11:58 am on February 16th, 2010
Family Day equil lot of fun on the snow for us. We are family of 4 who share the some passion, we all love to ski. Even our 3 years old daughter had her debiut on the ski this year. So we pack our equipment and head to the slopes ,forget about everthing and just enjoy each others company. We love it. Thanks a lot for a Family Day
1:24 am on March 3rd, 2010
I have five kids , in family day we stay home and relaxed from work and even cooking . later we went to eat in china buffet we spend 3 hours they. At night me husbund and the kids but togather a bed to my little girl. we enjoy to be togather without missing one of the family member. It’s good idea to have a family day. Thank youuuuuu
1:44 am on March 8th, 2010
Family Day has become an extra day for my husband to rest and relax with our 2 daughters, which normally happens only on Sundays, so it is great day!
5:51 pm on March 8th, 2010
Family day.. a day to let us think.. what is family.. how important is family to us.. when she spend this valuable day with our family.. we teach our next generation…family is the foundation of society.. whithout a strong family.. there is no outside world..
10:23 pm on March 13th, 2010
Family Day, means to me, a time to spend with my husband,kids and any family member of mine. It’s a time for fun, laughter and good times. This is a time to cherish the memories you have together.
Have a Fantasic and Fun Family Day to Everyone!!
10:35 am on March 16th, 2010
Family Day is a day set aside solely to focus on instilling family values, it means getting a chance to take that extra day and spend it with our daughters, 20, 9 and 6 years old, enjoying each others company.
11:27 am on March 17th, 2010
Family Day–spending time with my Parents and sisters and brother. We enjoy this day with making breakfast for everyone and making sure we are allat the dining table. Then we have some movie time, we plan which movie to watch and mom goes all the way out. with popcorn nacho’s and pop. Then, before evening starts we all my grandparents and thank them for giving us swesome mom and dad. We all go out for dinner.
Family and Family
12:03 pm on March 17th, 2010
Family day for us is a day where we can do things together and have fun. Usually we just pick the place that four of us can have fun, not just the kids but for the parents as well. We need fun time too after working so hard, right?. This time we went to chuckee cheese and had lunch in all you can eat korean bbq, yummy. All of us enjoyed that day.
9:08 pm on March 19th, 2010
Family day is the nice day to enjoy with our family ,
and the main thing is that it comes on the same day of my birth day so more enjoyable