It’s the middle of August so I thought why not write about some holidays. I have favorite holidays because of happy childhood memories. There have been good times during my adult life, too, but it’s our childhood that makes our holidays.
Valentine’s Day was my first favorite holiday because every year for three years I was able to give a cute girl I like a Valentines card. Cathy was always one of the most popular girls in the class and I never could get a chance to be alone with her (well, one time). So we exchange Valentines Day cards and I had boyhood fantasies of things progressing from there.
When I hit my teens Valentines Day wasn’t so important to me. I never had a girlfriend around that time of year. I was always into things with my buddies. But I had a special Valentines Day when I went to college. After that I promised myself I would spend Valentines Day with someone special every year.
My wife and I don’t pay that much attention to it for ourselves now because our kids are into it. My older son has a crush on a cute girl at school already.
Fourth of July was always a great holiday for me because we were out of school and spent a lot of these holidays with my grandparents. Granddad always had a cookout except for one year when it rained. We ate indoors and it was not quite as fun a 4th as I hoped but we still enjoyed the fireworks that evening.
My uncles would gather around the grill swapping stories and we boys would play games. My girl cousins would listen to music or help their moms with setting up the picnic tables. But don’t worry, if you’re wondering why the boys got away with playing. Guess who got stuck with cleanup duty while everyone else was relaxing.
I don’t cook out as much as I would like to. We’re more likely to take the family to a museum or something for the day, but we still enjoy the fireworks in the evening.
Labor Day became one of my favorite holidays when I started working. Any free Monday is a great holiday in my book. When I had enough paid leave time saved up I turned Labor Day into a four-day weekend by taking off Friday or, if I had a project due, Tuesday.
As an adult I have more control over my Labor Day weekends than I did as a kid and I have to be careful about what I plan because I have kids in school.
Memorial Day, like Labor Day, is a great holiday for me because I can turn it into a four-day weekend. I prefer to take off Friday because then I have two short work-weeks. But if I really need some time off I’ll take the Friday and Tuesday and give myself a five-day break from work.
Memorial Day is hotter than Labor Day and I don’t like the heat so much. Labor Day is a more comfortable weekend for me.
Thanksgiving is my other favorite holiday. Sure, I loved Christmas as a kid but as a dad I find that Christmas is more of a chore. There are some things we do for Christmas that help make it fun but Thanksgiving is a special week for me.
Since we get both Thursday and Friday off I usually take off Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. So now I have a 9-day vacation and I only have to use 3 days of paid leave to get it. But Thanksgiving is great for other reasons.
When I was in school I learned quickly that most of our teachers were not going to hand out much homework that week. And we never had tests. And we usually went home early on Wednesday.
Many of my Thanksgiving holidays have been spent happily playing in the rustling leaves of Autumn, although some years the leaves fall too early and by Thanksgiving all the trees are bare.
But there are football games, big family dinners, and time to spend with kids and friends. For me Thanksgiving has always been a time filled with love. I just hated when my grandparents started passing. That made the holidays a little less joyful for us.
I guess the real lesson about holidays is that you should fill them with love and enjoy being with your family as much as possible. One day they won’t be there and you will never be able to get more time with them.
Hey, one last thought. Check out DailyZilla, a Website about holidays. I think you’ll really like it.