This year, families in British Columbia will celebrate Monday, Feb. 13. Those in Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan get their chance seven days later on Feb. 20. This isn't a holiday people normally get off work, so you might have to celebrate the weekend before or find creative ways to have fun Monday evening.
Here are some preparations you can make to have a great time with your loved ones:
Buy your family's favourite foods
Cooking is one of the simplest yet most effective ways to show you care. Though it doesn't seem like much, making a meal is a laborious and time-intensive endeavor that ends in a delicious treat. What's more, cooking and eating dinner with each other gives your family a chance to connect, share stories and laugh together.
This holiday, make your family's favourite foods - whatever they might be. If your son wants an ice cream sandwich with "chocolate syrup soup" for dipping all on a cookie pie plate, put the healthy eating on hold for the night and start spreading cookie dough on a pan. Spend the Saturday prior listing favourites, drawing up a grocery list and shopping for ingredients for Monday night's dinner.
Make a dinner of your family's favourite foods.
Stock up on movies
If dinner is too much of an ordeal, grab everyone's favourite film - or queue something up on Netflix - and spend the evening hosting a movie marathon. Instead of shopping for a bunch of ingredients this weekend, grab your favorite brand of popcorn. Set the living room with low lighting and tons of comfy blankets for a nice, low-key Family Day celebration that allows you to have fun on a Monday night.
Start a new tradition
Canada.com suggested starting a new Family Day tradition of giving back. After all, if Canada Day is for fireworks and Thanksgiving is for feasts, why shouldn't Family Day have a similar practice? Caring for the community as a group brings you and yours closer together. Clean out your closets and donate old clothes, decorate plates and load them up with food for the homeless, deliver pet supplies to an animal adoption agency or write letters to your representatives about a specific issue. Spend the weekend before the holiday researching what you need to do for whichever idea you choose - for example, if you've decided to deliver toys to a pet adoption agency, call or look on their website for a list of items they need most. Then, gather supplies and carry out your charitable act on Monday.