January 1 – Global Family Day

nPosted on January 1, 2018

Key Points

nOn January 1, 2001, the world entered a “new millennium.” And that just means that the number system we created to count the years was at that moment starting a new set of a thousand years (which is what a millennium is), after having completed 2,000 years since year 1.

nAnd year 1 was supposed to be the year of Jesus’s birth – although scholars disagree about exactly when or even if he actually lived.

On that momentous date, that “starting a new millennium” date, the United Nations celebrated One Day in Peace.

nSince then, the United States has celebrated New Year’s Day as a global day of peace and sharing – and called it Global Family Day.

I would not have thought, “Hmm…peace and sharing – I know, let’s call it Family Day!” But of course it’s great if families are peaceful and sharing! I decided, since the inclusion of the word “family” was surprising, let’s look at the definition of the word “family.”

nAs you can imagine, one definition is “one or two parents rearing her/his/their children.”

nBut other definitions broaden the word:

A group of people who live together “under one roof.”

nA group of people who share ancestry.

nA group of people who share beliefs and lifestyles.

nI won’t even get into all the other sorts of families – such as word families (like cat, hat, fat), animal families (such as the lemur family or the tarsier family), arithmetic fact families (like 3 x 4 = 12, 4 x 3 = 12, 12/3 = 4, 12/4 + 3), and so forth.

nSo…here are some examples of a variety of families, including two-parent and single-parent families, blended families (with children from more than one marriage or partnership) or stepfamilies, “mixed” families (with parents from different ethnic, racial, or religious groups), nuclear or extended families, childless families and adoptive families, grandparent families, and found families or “families of choice.”