My Favorite Holiday

Yesterday was one of the best holidays of the year - Veteran’s Day. I love Veteran’s Day. And I’ll tell you why. Most holidays require some sort of forced family participation. In addition, because I have no family in Peoria, most forced family participation holidays require travel. I love to travel . . . well, let’s say I used to love to travel, but that was prior to having a child. It is not so much fun to travel with a baby.

Anyway, as I was saying, most holidays require forced family participation. You know - Easter, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Those holidays are considered family holidays and every one expects you to hang with your family. To make matters worse, not only do you have to see your family but you have to partake in specific holiday activities with your family.

Easter - dying eggs and egg hunts and uneven candy baskets.

Memorial Day - picnic (for which sister-in-law refuses to use paper or plastic plates and utensils, so we have to pack the real thing and drag to the park and back) and talking about dead people.

Fourth of July - fireworks (which equals very freaked out dogs and crabby babies these days) and homemade ice cream.

Labor Day - always falls right after my birthday so we have to dwell on that horror and discuss my various embarrassing moments from birth on.

Thanksgiving - planning the meal and cooking the meal, which is always tense with a professional chef and two very good (but not professional) cooks in the family.

Christmas - the worst forced happy family holiday with the added pressure of maybe getting really crappy gifts or one sibling getting toys and the other getting socks and underwear.

Don’t get me wrong - I love my family (most of them) and I like spending time with them. But I find that, often, it is easier to spend time with them when there is not the added holiday we-must-make-good-memories pressure. So, this is why I love the "lesser holidays" - MLK Jr. Day, President’s Day, Columbus Day, and Veteran’s Day. I have these days off from work but there is no expectation of family gatherings. I can run errands, do laundry, clean the house, read in bed, shop, embroider, paint, or whatever else strikes me. It’s a free three-day weekend.

I know what you nay-sayers are thinking. "You know, Ms. PH, there are good reasons for these holidays and you are supposed to be _______ on these days." I know, I know. I know I should be celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday and Washington and Lincoln’s birthdays. I know I should be thanking Columbus for discovering our country after the Native Americans and Vikings discovered it. (What a feat that was.) I know I should be honoring the men and women who have served our country.

And I do celebrate these days. Like I said, I celebrate by running errands, doing laundry, cleaning the house, reading in bed, shopping, embroidering, painting, and whatever else strikes me. Is that bad of me? Probably. But, did you also notice that I don’t go to church on any of the religious holidays mentioned above? Or that I don't go to church at all? That’s probably bad of me too. Oh, well . . . I guess I’m going to hell one way or another. Too bad I don’t believe in hell. I bet every day is like Veteran’s Day in hell. Sounds like heaven to me.