Jesus did not have a bachelor party.

On Valentines Day the Mr. & I showered the girls with gifts throughout the day. First, the breakfast menu contained heart-shaped pancakes & pink milk. (Scissors & red food coloring to the rescue.) I spread the table with a red gingham cloth atop a piece of vintage lace fabric. (Well, half the table. The other half is covered in that puzzle we're working on.) Real fancy plates & cloth napkins completed the look. Sweet cards from mommy & daddy sat on each of their place settings, along with a stuffed doggie. The girls sipped their pink milk from straws fashioned with lips on the end—so it looked like they had big smoochy mouths when they drank. (Hilarious!) 

After school, the girls came home to a snack of chocolate dipped Oreos that the Mr. & I had picked up at our favorite local bakery earlier in the day. 

In the evening they were surprised with a new Wii game & a box of chocolates. (I borrowed a pecan caramel cluster.)

Sometime during the day Zoey asked, "Why do we celebrate Valentines Day?" Before I could retort with an answer having to do with some Saint named Valentine, Pazely piped up: "I think it's the day Jesus got married. Today is his anniversary!" Oh my word. That child has had too much chocolate. I snorted so hard that milk almost came out of my nose. 

And I was drinking iced tea.

Yesterday the girls had the day off of school because of Presidents Day. As we sat down to breakfast this morning, I asked them, "Why did we celebrate Presidents Day?" Pazely responded, "I smell oatmeal. I don't know."

So far, I'm doing an awesome job of keeping my children in the dark about the history & origin of holidays.

So I decided to dig deeper & pulled a few random celebrations out of my hat:

Why is February called Black History Month?
Zoey {age 10} thought maybe the word "black" referred to something that was dark & sorrowful & maybe it was a month to remember a lot of sad, dark, tragic accidents.
Pazely (age 8} thought that maybe it's because pink & black looked pretty together.

Why do we celebrate St. Patrick's Day?
Zoey: "Oh, I know this one. Because of this guy who, when he was a kid, was kidnapped by pirates, then they took him to this place & he worshiped God but his master worshiped twigs. When he grew up he became famous & wise & told people about God."
Pazely: "Because little leprechauns give us presents & we get to find clovers on scavenger hunts."

What is Memorial Day?
Zoey: I think it has something to do with Abraham Lincoln.
Pazely: I don't know. What does "memorial" mean?

I don't reveal this question & answer scenario to make fun of my children. Kids say the most honest & adorably innocent things. It does make me giggle though, & it sort of reminds me of Jay Leno's 'Jaywalking' series on The Tonight Show.

There are plenty of adults who don't even know why we celebrate, commemorate or memorialize many holidays either.
I just don't want my kiddos to grow up to be one of them.

So I'm on a mission.

•Starting now, I will begin to help my munchkins understand why we have a day off of school on the 3rd Monday of every February.
•When March 17th rolls around, we will research the complete history of that green holiday. (Zoey actually had a few of the facts correct. Although I'm still stumped on the "twig worshiping" bit.)
•We will push aside the barrage of retail sales & ad flyers on Labor Day, to truly discover why it is in fact called "Labor Day".
•We will remember Mr. Columbus & find out why his epic boat ride was so important.
•We will observe, with respect, the birth of Martin Luther King, Jr. & the greatness that his story tells.
And so on...

These annual rituals of  remembrance will become much more significant.
And we just might become a band of holiday history snobs.
♥