If you had no idea about it and are just hearing about National Parents Day, you missed it.

Maybe you can go to the ticket shop and pick up a late ticket at a clearance price.

National Parents Day was established in 1994 by President Bill Clinton and the fourth Sunday in July was chosen as the date.

I had no idea about this special day until I went to throw away my desk calendar that had been sitting on my classroom desk all year. There it was, written in a small, nondescript color on my printed calendar.

A 30 year old special day I had never heard of.

You’d think that parents had a lot to celebrate in May and June when our individual parenting days were scheduled. You’d think there would have been plenty of opportunities for breakfast in bed, spa trips, ugly ties, and “#1 Dad” coffee mugs.

And who has not heard a child say, probably protesting against being dragged to relatives on Mother’s Day or Father’s Day: “When is CHILDREN’S DAY?”

Then the parents say: “EVERY DAY is children’s day!”

And then there is laughter from the audience.

If I shake off my grumpy demeanor and abandon my “yet another holiday invented by Hallmark” attitude, I can focus on someone suggesting National Parents Day and realize that it might be a good idea. I mean, there are plenty of people who aren’t biological parents, or parents at all, who are taking on that role and taking care of their families as best they can.

I have been particularly harsh on parents over the years and wish I hadn’t been – especially since becoming a mother myself. There are many, many times when I made an unfair assumption or even embarrassed myself.

There were many times when parents failed to fulfill their responsibilities, but even then I did not know the circumstances.

I wish I had been much, much more lenient.

Parenting is not for wimps.

I think life would be so much better if we were more open about our upbringing and the difficulties we face. What a difference it would make if we could remember to give a word of encouragement to the people who care for families every day.

How wonderful it would be if we could better help foster families, or grandparents raising their grandchildren, or even people who are not biological parents and are caring for children because no one else has stepped in.

And then there are the adult children who have themselves become parents of their aging parents.

We need to step away from our own circumstances and pay attention to the parents around us, rather than worrying about creating our own idyllic picture collage on Facebook. We need to stop worrying about people finding out we make mistakes and admit that we have failed many times when it comes to parenting.

I mean, as we’ve heard ad nauseam, children come with no instructions.

Should we be proud of our families and grateful that they turned out so well? Of course! There’s nothing wrong with letting people know how proud we are and I personally love seeing everyone on Facebook.

But we don’t want to be too busy with our own lives to judge or ignore others who may just need a pat on the back.

It might be a good idea to rename National Parents Day to Parent and Carer Support Day.

Maybe I’ll call the president.