Every Day A Holiday

Do you dress your family in matching red, white, and blue, patriotic paraphernalia every Fourth of July?  Are you guilty of stocking your freezer full of Cadbury chocolate eggs at Easter time, leaving up your Christmas tree much longer than is socially acceptable, or getting excited when you realize that July 11th, (7/11), is coming up, because a free Slurpee is absolutely something to celebrate?

I love holidays!  I love celebrating simple, meaningful traditions with friends and family.  I'm too impatient to wait for Valentines to roll around after New Years.  The months between July 4th and Halloween are much too long.  I just can't wait to for the next holiday to come around.  So, I don't!

I know what you're thinking.  "What more do you want?  The calendar is already littered with holidays like: Secretary's Day, National Hot Dog Day, Arbor Day, Scrabble Day, Barbershop Quartet Day, and National Doughnut Day."  While I certainly appreciate a day that gives me a really good excuse to eat a doughnut, it's just not enough.  I want more!

Why can't every day be a holiday?  I am thinking of a different kind of celebration.  A celebration simply because it's a new day, a celebration of the million simple, little, details that make up a day.  Your day.

The simplest, happy moment in your day can warrant a celebration.  Something as random as Hummus going on sale.  (I really like Hummus.)  Make up a batch of homemade Naan.  Look up a few facts on a country where this might be a regular meal, and have a cultural night celebration for dinner.  (Try this recipe!  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/14565/naan/)

On an extra windy day, pick up a couple $2.00 kites at the store, and make it "Kite Day", or buy, (or make), a pinwheel, and talk to your kids about wind power and windmills.  
(Try these!  http://www.marthastewart.com/272283/paper-pinwheels)

A rainy day doesn't have to mean that your stuck inside with nothing to do.  A rainy day is one of my favorite excuses to celebrate!  A rainy day could become, "Snuggle Up With a Good Book and Your Favorite Blanket Day." 

My two year old loves rainy days, because she knows that the perfect muddy puddle always appears on our front walk.  In fact, on sunny days when no puddle is to be seen, Lottie will walk by the spot, and with a sad sigh and longing in her eyes, say, "the puddle dried up". 

My 18 year old daughter still talks about how much she remembers loving the "Rainy Sunday Box", from her childhood.  This box couldn't have been more simple: maybe a few toys from the dollar store, a box of new crayons and a few coloring books, and some small treats, in an attempt to make a long, rainy, Sunday afternoon become a little more exciting for my kids.  This simple box, kept hidden until it happened to rain on a Sunday, was exciting and special to my kids, and made a rainy day something worth celebrating.

The secret is to celebrate the everyday, celebrate the simple, celebrate the beautiful that every day brings.
 
Why not add a few new holidays of your own to the calendar? 

Today's a new day; let's make it purposeful!
Kara