special: better, greater, or otherwise different from what is usual.

When I was growing up, special could refer to greatness, but always referred to the different from 'usual'


I heard a debate on the radio today arguing to get rid of 'mothers day' and replace it with 'parents day' , the reason being that this person believed we should try to be 'all inclusive'

now , when it comes to holidays, I feel being 'all inclusive' defeats the purpose

holidays are designed towards specific purposes or to celebrate specific things or people , taking away holidays(unless they celebrate the demise of a people) seems over reaction to me and actually diminishes how 'special' a day is when you try to include EVERYONE's accomplishments or roles


what do you think?

I more than agree with you on this, msharmony.

Were the folks on the radio trying to lump Fathers Day and Mothers Day together to save ink printing calendars, or what?

You ask some brain ticklers. I have an opinion but I'm not sure how to put it in words. I see both sides they want to get rid of mothers day and fathers day because they are both the parents and they are celebrating because they are parents. I think what they don't relize is that they are celebrated separately because they both have a different roll in parenthood. If there is any compromise it would have to be a third holiday called parents day. Also change the names of mothers day and fathers day to birth giver day and sperm donor day or whatever other clever names you can think of. Anyways I do think being special is going away from the social norms. I just don't think you have to be special by getting rid of the social norms and making your special way the new normal. I do say to get rid of the normal if it is not working. I wouldn't call that special though I would call that inovative.

I wouldn't have minded a "Kids Day". My parents always forgot my birthday

I think it a ridicules idea to get rid of those days.

Mothers and fathers bring different things to their children's upbringing.. yes, together they are parents, but individually they bring different things.. unique to being a mother or father

These are the things that we celebrate on THEIR individual day

they felt people should not feel 'left out', who were not biological or traditional mothers and a parents day would include anyone that someone felt was important to their upbringing

I think holidays are cultural traditions.
As culture changes, so do traditions, so do holidays.
"Mothers day" didn't always exist. There weren't huddled masses of mothers shivering under bridges wondering why no one cared about or appreciated them, and then one magic day everything changed.

Whether or not "mothers day" remains under that label, it doesn't diminish any efforts on my part to appreciate my mother.
I don't do things to appreciate my mother just because the government recognizes and labels a certain day.

Holidays aren't really laws, they're opportunities to participate in a shared culture according to personal or local interpretation. Doesn't matter what they're labeled.

Nothing is being "taken away" unless the only meaning, purpose, and value in your life is defined solely by other people and/or government, you have no ties to your community, and/or you're incapable of realizing that culture is not static.


I wonder if you assume something not working to be not working for everyone.
In this case "mothers day" may not be working for a minority of people.
Should the minority dictate change to the majority if something is not working for the minority but is working just fine for the majority?
What's the threshold for perceived "harm" that justifies a minority to dictate cultural norm change to the majority?
...IMO the thresholds keep getting more petty while the labels used are the same for the more severe. That's a little off topic though.

Mmm, okay. Well, it did make me look up where Mother's Day came from, and that was interesting. One telling of the story is that it started as a sort of anti-war protest/recognition of mothers of the fallen only.

Whatever. If it makes them feel better, I wouldn't object to retitling the two days "FWTOTAP Day" and "MWTOTAP Day." Those are acronyms for "Females who think of themselves as Parents Day" and "Males" etc. Since the transgenders I've had as friends usually thought of themselves as both, I don't THINK they'd feel left out, but who knows.

happy mothers day msharmony

ty you as well