Global Day of Parents

G'day parents, the UN has decreed that today you can get breakfast in bed and the kids will do all the chores round the house . . . and mow the lawn if you have one. The UN has it as "appreciate all parents in all parts of the world for their selfless commitment to children and their lifelong sacrifice towards nurturing this relationship." That's not very useful to the UN poster-family Sr y Sra Foto de Stock [R] from Costa Rica: they have at least 6 years of slaving for their child until it is tall enough to get its hands in the sink. I don't think many countries are paying attention to the UN on this one. The majority [N=47 Albania; Angola; Armenia; Azerbaijan; Belarus; Benin; Bulgaria; Bosnia and Herzegovina; People's Republic of China; Cambodia; Czech Republic; East Timor; Ecuador; Estonia; Ethiopia; Georgia; Guinea-Bissau; Kazakhstan; Kosovo; Kyrgyzstan; Laos; Latvia; Lebanon; Lithuania; Macedonia; Macau; Moldova; Mongolia; Montenegro; Mozambique; Myanmar; Nicaragua; Poland; Portugal; Romania; Russia; São Tomé and Príncipe; Serbia; Slovakia; Slovenia; Tajikistan; Tanzania; Turkmenistan; Ukraine; Uzbekistan; Vietnam; Yemen;] of countries have today calendared as International Children's Day.  Obviously Children's Day and Parent's Day are obverse and reverse of the same coin but it's not symmetrical: in Ireland today 'children' are still sucking at the parental teat until they are well into their 20s.

If you read the long list of countries above without falling asleep, you'll notice that a disproportionate number of them are former or actual communist republics. That's because the idea for International Children's Day was launched by the Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF) at its convention in Moscow in 1949 and started the following year. Although founded in Paris, the WIDF was decidedly Left in its outlook and membership. Weltkinderdag was celebrated in Der Osten with Young Pioneers putting on the red kerchiefs for a little recreational book burning [photo source] of Müll und Dreck. The US affiliated Congress of American Women was immediately identified as a communist front by HUAC - the House Unamerican Activities Committee. HUAC was, if not the engine, at least a significant piston driving the destructive paranoia of the Cold War.  Although still resolute as June 1st Deniers JFD, the US is all over the shop on when and if to celebrate Children' Day; you can't be sure how much of this diversity is Wikitrolling but a projected date of "June 32, 2090" will have you put on your skeptics hat.  As I said before, in Ireland we do UCD on 20 November along with Arab League [[N=22 of them!]; Azerbaijan; Canada; Croatia; Egypt [again! it's part of the Arab Leugue]; Ethiopia; Finland; France; Greece; Ireland; Israel; Kenya; Malaysia; Macedonia; Netherlands; Philippines; Serbia; Slovenia; South Africa; Spain; Sweden;  Switzerland; United Arab Emirates; Trinidad and Tobago.

Parents, I guess I'm sorry to have raised your hopes about being recognised for your sacrifices today or any day.  Other people, if your parents are still alive, you could use the UN's statement to call the ould folks up and say thanks.