Global
HUG Your KIDS Day
Monday, July 15, 2013
(775) 303-8201 ** hugs@hugyourkidsday.com
About
Mark Nichols (1989 - 1998) with his mom, Michelle Nichols, founder of Global Hug Your Kids Day
Global Hug Your Kids Day is one day a year to remind parents to stop and hug their kids - and spouse/partners, and other loved one - every day. It's like Mother's Day and Earth Day, which are also in McGraw-Hill's official holiday calendar.
This isn't about time management. This is not about "balance." It is not about parenting. Our work is about helping people, who want to be great at work AND great at parenting and other aspects of their lives, find a sane path that works for them. We advocate for kids AND their parents - AND employers and schools and communities. Our work really touches everyone.
Buy the handbook, hear Michelle speak, or watch some of our videos. You matter, your kids matter, and your job matters!
BACKGROUND - Why the Holiday is called "Global Hug Your Kids Day" Global Hug Your Kids Day springboarded from some billboards Michelle Nichols and her family had put up in Houston in 2003, in memory of their son, Mark. The billboards read "Hug Your Kids Today. We Wish We Could. In Memory of Mark Nichols 1989-1998." Mark died suddenly in 1998, at age 8 1/2 years old, from brain cancer. The words of the billboards inspired the holiday and the title of the handbook - Hug Your Kids Today! The first National Hug Your Kids Day was July 21, 2008. For all our results, we won the Governor's Award for Start-up of the Year that year. To learn about all the wonderful ways it was celebrated across the U.S., click here. The next (fifth) holiday will be Monday, July 16, 2012 and will continue on the third Monday in July in future years. It is listed in McGraw-Hill's annual holiday calendar book Chase's Calendar of Events. Global Hug Your Kids Day has FOUR components:
Watch the 2003 TV interview from KTRK, the ABC-TV affiliate in Houston.
The second National Hug Your Kids Day was July 20, 2009. We had something going on in 28 states that day!
The third holiday - renamed Global Hug Your Kids Day was July 19, 2010. We renamed it Global because Pfizer took it across the Philippines with a large TV and Internet program. 6,000+ mothers uploaded photos of hugging their children. Wow!
The fourth holiday was July 18, 2011. We launched the 30 Day Hug Challenge, had a radio interview replayed on 700+ radio stations and CNN-TV interviewed me during Prime Time.
