Last week I shared a running podcast, and said that I usually listen to podcasts for information, as opposed to entertainment. There are a couple exceptions to this, and one of them is Christmas Countdown, which I just discovered last December.
The two hosts have a countdown every week, such as “Top 5 Christmas Albums” or “Top 5 Smells of Christmas.” This week, they had their first off-season episode, “Top 5 Holidays That Aren’t Christmas.” That was fun, and made me think about what my own five would be.
I usually say I like all holidays, but when I started really thinking about it, I realized there are a lot of holidays I’m lukewarm about, and some that I outright dislike. I have my top five, but first, I’m going to talk about the holidays I don’t like.
New Year’s Day
This was on the podcast’s Top 5 list, and I can’t say it’s on mine. New Year’s is a hard time for me, because I get really sad when Christmas is over. I try to rally for New Year’s Eve, but in the back of my mind I’m also thinking about all the work I’m going to have to do to “de-Christmas” the house. Once I get a week or two into January, I start to feel better.
Valentine’s Day
Ugh. Valentine’s Day always depresses me, and for a long time I couldn’t figure out why. Finally, I had an epiphany. Growing up, I was always depressed in the winter. No one talked about SAD back then, so all I knew was that I had an issue with depression that went in cycles. I was always depressed on Valentine’s Day, simply because it was in the middle of winter. Even though I now live in Florida and February is one of our best weather months, it’s permanently ingrained in my psyche that Valentine’s Day is a time to be depressed. I can’t seem to shake it.
Easter
Easter is always kind of a bummer for me, because I miss my parents. When my son was little, my parents would spend the winters in Florida, and they eventually moved here full-time. We would always go to their house on Easter afternoon and they would have a little Easter egg hunt for my son, and we would have dinner with them. I know there are other holidays that are more family-oriented- we’ll get to that in a minute- but on Easter afternoon I always have a sad feeling like something more should be happening (don’t worry! This is just a small, temporary sadness. It goes away quickly once the day is over.)
Well, that was a downer. Now that I’ve talked about all the sad holidays, let’s get into my Top 5 Favorites (other than Christmas.) Instead of going least to most favorite, I’m going to start with my number one, because it’s so obvious…
1. THANKSGIVING!
I love Thanksgiving so much, it almost rivals Christmas. I love the food but also the anticipation that comes with the day. I’m usually cooking in the kitchen while the Macy’s parade is on, but I insist on coming out to see Santa at the end, because it’s the OFFICIAL start to the Christmas season! This holiday has changed a lot for us over the years, but now it’s even more special, because my son comes home from college the week of Thanksgiving.
Now, you might be thinking, wait a minute! Thanksgiving is a family holiday! Why aren’t you sad THEN? Yes, the first Thanksgiving without my parents was hard, but the four of us have really turned it into a fun day. We all cook, and have a huge, fun feast. We don’t get together with my sister and BIL for Thanksgiving, because none of us want the stress of traveling at that time of year. But my sister and I text throughout the day, giving updates on our pies and sending pictures. It’s a super fun day.
2. Halloween
I’m not one of those people who gets all dressed up for Halloween or throws a big party- but I love the holiday. I love Halloween decorations, and I decorate the inside and outside of my house. I love answering the door for trick-or-treaters. When my kids were little, I loved walking around the neighborhood with them while they trick-or-treated (sadly, those days are over forever… until I have grandchildren?)
3. Fourth of July
This is a recent one for me. When my kids were little, I did NOT care for this holiday. I felt obligated to take them to see fireworks, and it was always disgustingly hot and crowded. So stressful. NOW, I really appreciate this day. For one thing, I have the day off, which I can’t say for every holiday. My husband and I usually run a race in the morning, and then we come home and make some fun food for the day (July 4th-themed charcuterie board for lunch, and vegan burgers for dinner.) Also, we realized that we don’t need to leave our house to see fireworks! We don’t even have to step outside- we can look out the living room window and see the incredible displays all the neighbors are putting on. I know… fireworks are really hard for pets. Our black cat, Charlotte, hates them and hides under the bed. I feel bad about that, but I can’t help it- fireworks are fun.
4…
Here where I had to start digging deep. I thought about all the minor holidays. St Patrick’s Day? I’m pretty sure I had some fun ones in my youth (although it’s all a blur, ha ha) but this year I forgot all about it. Mother’s Day? Meh- bittersweet. I finally came up with, and I hope this counts…
My Birthday
I don’t always have my birthday off from work, but I try to celebrate on a day close to my birthday. This year I had a long trail run and a nice lunch out by myself. I like how I can say ‘I want to spend the day alone” and not feel guilty about it. Now, I would say I like everyone’s birthday, but while I like the idea of my kids’ birthdays, the reality stresses me out. They both have December birthdays, which is hard to deal with on top of Christmas. If only they had birthdays at ANY OTHER TIME OF YEAR! Oh well. My birthday will have to stand alone at #4.
If you thought I was pushing it for #4, wait till you hear the next one….
5. Labor Day
Yep. Labor Day! I love this time of year, when I can take out all my pumpkin decor and start thinking about the upcoming holidays (on the Christmas Countdown they call September-December the “Ber” months.) Yes, let the Ber months begin! It’s still hot in Florida at that time, but I can start looking forward to the fall holidays and the cool, beautiful weather that we’ll get… eventually.
So that’s my five!
If Christmas ISN’T your favorite holiday, what is?
What would your top five be?
18 Responses
I hate New Year’s Eve, too. I find it very anti-climactic somehow. I feel that many people have (too) high hopes for the new year only to be bitterly disappointed a few weeks later.
My family doesn’t observe any holidays (that would be so boring for you!). Instead, we do stuff randomly. For example, we usually have one big get-together in the winter and one in the summer. We agree on the date depending on the availability of everyone. Our next get-together will be in August!
Well, that’s interesting! But also intriguing- I feel like observing holidays results in a lot of highs and lows (as evidenced by this post where I talk about either LOVING a particular day or being sad.) You probably live your life on a more even keel, which wouldn’t be a bad thing!
I love Christmas, although I often find myself getting stressed out by all the expectations. Thanksgiving used to be my favorite holiday, but now it exhausts me. But my favorite is definitely Halloween! I am not a person who does a yard full of zombies and skeletons (although I appreciate those people!) and I hate dressing up and/or attending Halloween parties, but I love how fun and frivolous it is. The decorations are fun, the candy is fun, and I love the kindness-of-strangers aspect of trick-or-treating.
Yes, Halloween is fun and frivolous, and it doesn’t have the expectations that Thanksgiving and Christmas do. I agree that the stress (especially at Christmas, for me) takes away a little bit of the enjoyment.
Such a fun post! I feel like such a bore because I pour all my love for holidays into Christmas and leave it at that. Nothing comes even CLOSE to Christmas in my mind.
Bottom Five:
Halloween (I hated it as a child and this has carried forward), St. Patrick’s Day (I just don’t care), Canada Day (we don’t do anything fun for this; I really should start), New Years (don’t care + I’m sad Christmas is over), Mother’s Day (this sounds horrible, but I always seem to get the blues on Mother’s Day and I’m not sure why! I’ve done a few solo when my husband is traveling and those were just the WORST.)
Top Five:
I really don’t care much about the rest but it would be, in no particular order: Valentine’s, Easter, my Birthday, Labour Day (it’s almost time for school again!), and Canadian Thanksgiving (good food and usually gorgeous weather).
Well, we share some least favorites (New Year’s and Mother’s Day) and some favorites (birthdays, labor Day and Thanksgiving.) Funny how people seem to either love or hate Halloween. And it’s funny you didn’t like it as a child! I LOVED it, but my son was never a big Halloween fan either.
Hmmm…I really like Valentine’s Day more than you. I actually think it’s something to liven up the dreariness of the middle of winter, so I don’t have the same associations as you.
Top five: Easter (so much fun!), Labor Day (my husband’s family does a big reunion every year), Halloween (I love spooky season), late May (which is my husband’s birthday/end of the school year for him/our anniversary), and Election Day (which should be a national holiday, damn it all)
Bottom five: Thanksgiving (food stuff is NOT fun with my husband), Fourth of July (I HATE fireworks now that I have a dog), St. Patrick’s Day/New Year’s (ugh…drunk driving is a problem in Wisconsin on a regular day), and Father’s Day.
Well, this was interesting! Election Day? I don’t know… I find it very stressful, especially lately. We definitely agree on Halloween and Labor Day though, and I would be interested to hear what makes Easter so fun for you?
My husband’s family does Easter right. A lovely brunch, an egg hunt, a couple of games, and we’re out. Because the next day is a Monday, there’s no expectation that we’ll stay overnight, the food is great, and the kids are generally happy and we’re there such a short time we don’t see any meltdowns. I have historically enjoyed Easter for these reasons.
Until January 6, 2021, one of the things that has always impressed me about the United States is our peaceful transitions of power. I have always seen elections as something (one of the few things) Americans have done right. Whether or not my candidates win or lose, there was a fair contest, people get to cast their ballots and speak their mind, and democracy was working. Now, my optimism has taken some beatings over the year. Bush v. Gore put a bit of a dent into it, but I was still young, so I rebounded. Trump’s victory over Clinton bloodied that optimism. January 6, though, it made me question everything. BUT. I still think that we can move beyond DJT and we should, as a country, return Election Day to a day in which we celebrate the importance of our system of government.
Well, you’ve still got plenty of optimism. I like that attitude- but I’m still dreading the next election day.
Your Easter does sound pretty fun. If I had that kind of an Easter I would probably enjoy it too.
What a fun post! My top 5 are:
1 .Family birthday parties – so I’m taking about 10 celebrations and lumping them together into an official holiday
2. July 4th – for the party and that’s when I met my stepsons for the first time
3. Thanksgiving
4. New Year’s. Winter and Christmastime get pretty heavy emotionally, and New Year’s always makes me feel like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
5. Memorial Day because the boys are in the big town parade with the Boy Scouts
You’ve got a couple interesting ones- Memorial Day wouldn’t be on my list (because it’s the start of a long, hot summer here) and you know how I fel about New Year’s! It’s funny how we’re the opposite there.
I am not a fan of NYE either. I am not great at staying up late and it feels like such an overhyped holiday! It’s tough to come up with 5 holidays I really love, but my top are Thanksgiving (might rival Christmas since it’s just about eating and being with people you love and are thankful for!), Halloween (but I did not like this holiday as an adult until I had kids!), and birthdays. I don’t love the 4th as I find fireworks to be so annoying since so many people shoot them off in our neighborhood! I love official fireworks shows but havent seen one since becoming a parent. Easter is kind of a letdown here as the weather is so rarely nice. I would like it more if we lived someone that had spring weather at this time of year!
Wow I am quite the Debbie downer about holidays. Ha.
Oh, that’s another thing that I used to hate about New Year’s Eve and 4th of July- people shooting off fireworks while my kids were trying to sleep! Definitely better now that the kids are older.
This is a really interesting subject as I have never really thought about it. Although I do love Christmas, I have to say that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year because it really focuses on food and family. Sometimes Christmas is too centered around gifts. My other top 4 holidays would have to be Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Easter and April Fools Day (my birthday).
I like how your birthday falls on an actual holiday! I agree Christmas is very gift-focused. I like gifts (who doesn’t?) but it can be a lot of pressure.
Ooh, this was so much fun! My top 5 holidays: Christmas, Thanksgiving, my birthday, Mother’s Day, and mayyybe Halloween. I know so many people who list the 4th as their favorite (or one of their favorite) holidays and I just don’t get it, lol. You make a strong argument, though! For me, it’s hard to feel patriotic these days and there’s just so much pressure to go out to the beach or downtown to see the fireworks, and it’s just not something I love. Plus, it seems like fireworks go over for days before and afterward, and that’s just annoying.
Okay, I know what you mean about the 4th. It is getting harder and harder to feel patriotic, and the fireworks create a lot of noise and air pollution. Maybe I’ll have to re-think this one!