What is today?

I heard something on the radio last night that I thought was pretty funny.

"Children are hereditary. Think about it- if your parents hadn't had children, chances are you wouldn't either."

But that's not what this post is about.

This post is about holidays. Some of you may be aware that President's Day is coming up. Feb. 20th, which is next Monday, to be exact. I have to ask... Why is this a holiday? Yeah, I know, it's a day to pay respect to the past leaders of our country, but who really does that? I guess my question is closer to HOW does one celebrate President's Day? Should we dress up as a famous president? Are there decorations for this holiday? Should we bake a cake or exchange gifts? Maybe a moment of silence? In all reality, all we can do is think back on the things they accomplished and how far our country has come due to their endeavors. I can manage to do that in my cubicle, thanks.

Did I mention that I get that day off from work? Which, I am totally not complaining about, but c'mon. What's the point of staying home? Do these people think that on Monday, I'm going to sit around my house reading history books and watching the specials on PBS? Because I'm not. I will sleep in, read trashy romance novels, and just generally lay around. Like I said, I'm not mad at the forced paid time off, but couldn't we have picked a better holiday to stay home?

Take Halloween, for example. Okay, okay, I know this isn't a "holiday" per se, but most families take part in the festivities. So, for most of the population, you have to speed home from work, rush through dinner, wrangle your kid into a costume, try to keep up with them for the first 5 blocks of walking, then carry them the last 4 (while holding various sacks FULL of candy) and all this is the easy part. When you get back to the house, it's time to clean them up, inspect each peice of sugary goodness for needles, poison, WMDs, everything. After which, you will fight with your child to leave the candy alone, cause it's too late for them to eat sweets, until you finally coax them into bed with promises of a lunch box full of his/ her very favorite bits.

What does this accomplish? How does it make sense to let kids and parents off on the one holiday that they are least likely to celebrate, yet force them all to be present when they are hopped up on sugar with only 4 hours sleep?

This thought process could apply to many days throughout the year. Days that a lot of folks would be much more appreciative to have off from work because a little less stress would be a gift from above. I, for one, would prefer to have St. Patrick's Day to stay home. Who needs the mad dash to find something green to wear or getting pinched because you HAVE NO GREEN SHIRT? Or the day after New Year's day. I mean, what partier is over their hangover from that night in 24 hours? But alas, the government or whoever that decides what constitutes a legal holiday, didn't ask me. So, I'll just take what I can get. Which, apparently, is President's Day.