For The Child
September 05, 2007

Forget "Back to School" -- September is the Month for Families!

It is September. The kids are back in school. We are plowing through the emails and voice mails that piled up when we were on vacation. We are even thinking about Halloween costumes, Thanksgiving menus and Christmas presents. Our schedules seem filled to overflowing.

Before we rush headlong into the fall and holiday seasons, let's take a minute in to celebrate our families. In fact all over the world, the celebration of families is a recurrent theme in September.

Many cultures, set aside special days to honor grandparents and older generations. While the Chinese and Japanese have been honoring their elders for centuries with Chong Yang (China) and Keiro-no-Hi (Japan), the US got into the game late. President Jimmy Carter made Grandparents Day 'official' in 1978. September was chosen to represent the 'autumn' of one's life.

We celebrate Stepfamilies on September 16th, and Forever Families on September 24. These days honor everyone, everywhere who choose to be parents to ALL the children in their lives.

Families are featured prominently in other September celebrations around the world. The Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival is a time for families to gather and will look up at the full silver moon, drinking wine to celebrate their happy life or thinking of their relatives and friends far from home, and extending all of their best wishes to them. The Japanese view the moon with family and friends on September 25th tsukimi (moon viewing) and the Jewish celebration of Sukkot is also known Season of our Rejoicing bringing families and friends together in the temporary sukkah. The sukkah is great fun for the children. Building the sukkah each year satisfies the common childhood fantasy of building a fort, and camping in the sukkah satisfies a child's desire to camp out in the backyard. Most family meals are eaten in the temporary structure-and some even sleep in the sukkah.

Even Confucius's birthday on September 28th can be viewed as a celebration of families. One of the main goals of Confucianism is social harmony, of which filial piety is central. "Filial", meaning "of a child", denotes the respect and obedience that a child, originally a son, should show to his parents, especially to his father. Additionally, specific duties were prescribed to each family member and extended to the dead where the living stood as 'sons' of their deceased family.

Whether you choose to send a grandparent a card, look at the moon with your family, build a sukkah or sweep off the family gravesites, September is a great time to hunker down and spend some quality time with your family.

Remember, that all families, no matter how they came to be are forever.

Deb

Check out Deb's Blog: www.bullyeraser.blogspot.com