Scheduling Holidays

Pretend holiday dates were flexible, and that we could schedule them at ideal times. Would you make any changes to the current holiday calendar?

If I could pick, all major holidays that my family celebrates would fall on the last weekend of the holiday’s regularly scheduled month — just like Halloween, if Halloween always fell on the last Friday or Saturday of October.

I have issues with holidays that don’t fall near the end of the month. I need several weeks to think about and prepare for any upcoming holiday in a way that satisfies me — and those weeks have to exist in the same month as the holiday.For example, I find it’s really hard for me to think about Valentine’s Day until February. But because I wait until then, I end up celebrating in a really low-key way. Two weeks is not enough time to make putting up decorations worthwhile.

And July 4th? I mean come on. That leaves me 3 days to realize it’s July, make BBQ plans, deck the house out in red, white and blue, figure out where to watch the fireworks, and get my hands on some sparklers for the kids. Not gonna happen. And it’s a shame. Because I really like Independence Day.

Easter, of course is the worst, because it can’t even manage to commit to a specific month. Is it in March this year? April?

Just some thoughts I’m throwing out there to the Calendar Making Gods. 

What’s your take? If you could mess with the holiday calendar, would you? Which holiday would you change first?

P.S. — Bubble-wrap calendar. And sort-of related: Would you ditch Daylight Savings time changes if you could?

35 thoughts on “Scheduling Holidays”

  1. I’m an accountant. Most accountants will agree that we get ripped out of some of holidays because they fall during month end close.
    New years day…nope inventory. July 4th…nope quarter end. Labor Day…nope month end close.
    So I guess for that reason, I agree with you’re end of the month proposition!

  2. While we are making calendar wishes, I’d like to propose moving New Year’s to the fall, to coincide with the start of school. That’s when I feel excited about new beginnings, not in the dead of winter! I realize not everyone has kids in school/teaches in schools, colleges, or universities/gets excited about new stationary (I check all three boxes)…but lots of people do, right? Also: Rosh Hashanah is already there.

    1. Ethiopia has New Years in September! Could we convince everyone to switch our calendar (bonus, we’d go back in time 7 years, since their calendar is 7 years behind ours! – 2010 here we come!)

  3. Little note-The Bubble-wrap calendar is actually linked to the Daylight savings article!
    I always feel a little caught out by Easter with a shift in dates each year. Also, I grew up in England and Easter Monday is always a holiday, a day off, banks closed, no school. Living in the states I always feel cheated as I send my kids to school and see my husband head back to work on that day.
    I propose a 3 day Easter weekend!

  4. I JUST googled when Easter was this year. April 16th!?!?! Wasn’t it in March last year? Get it together super significant religious holiday for millions of people around the world. lol:)

      1. This year it’s on the same date! Seeing as it’s my first Easter spent in a country where over 90% of the population is Orthodox, I’m pretty excited it’s the same date!

  5. I’ve actually thought about this a lot! When I lived in Chicago I always wished Christmas was at the end of January rather than in December. The cold weather in November and December seem festive and cheery because of Christmas decorations but then when the weather was cold in January it felt so bleak. Nothing to look forward to!

  6. I like your idea about making the holidays land on the last weekend of the month of the holiday :) I think we should adopt a European holiday schedule, where two months off at a time is the norm :D

    1. Oh, and yes, let’s please ditch daylight savings time changes! It disrupts the ENTIRE COUNTRY of people’s sleep and schedules all for what?? Seems like we’re sticking with it just like we are the imperial system of measurement, even though it makes no sense, simply because “that’s the way it’s always been”.

  7. Amen! Halloween is always so tricky mid-week, it should just be the last Friday or Saturday of the month. And yes, let’s get rid of Daylight Savings!

  8. I guess I’m the odd man out, because I would prefer holidays to be the first weekend of every month (except Christmas, I like it at the end). By the end of the month, I am always out of money and don’t have any to celebrate a holiday with!

  9. Most importantly, l’d do away with Daylight Savings Time!!

    I know this might trigger some complaints, but religious holidays should not be observed as an official holiday. Why not allow families to take 5 days off for religious holidays per year. That way all families can participate in the religious holiday of their choice. It’s difficult for families who celebrate Hanukkah, Ramadan, Kwanza, Chinese New Year, etc to take time off from work & school, while Christmas & Easter, Christian holidays are recognized Holidays for most, regardless of a person’s participation or not.

    Federal holidays should be for nationally recognized patriotic events.

    And, I think Federal holidays should be spaced out so they occur every other month…. mid-month.

    Better yet, why not observe the four seasons & celebrate the “earth”

  10. I’d like the idea of ending daylight savings…but only if our daily schedules could change to accommodate the times at which there is sunlight. Like, school starting earlier or later as well as work and business hours. I have such a hard time in the winter even with daylight savings.

  11. Just to mess with you a bit… try living a whole hemisphere away from your family of origin! Christmas and New Year’s are summer holidays and Easter is a fall holiday back home. And Father’s Day is celebrated in September.

    1. Australia, right? As a Canadian married to an Aussie, I had so much trouble dealing with a hot Christmas! Now that we are living in Canada, hubs feels like its the movies, with proper white Christmases each year!

  12. i wish independence day always fell on a friday or saturday. one of the key components of the holiday is the fireworks! so, it needs to fall on a day where you can easily have the next day or two off. it’s on a TUESDAY this year! so, i need to take monday and wednesday off for it to be worth a trip to the cabin? that’s a nice long weekend but so annoying when it falls in the middle of a week!

  13. I would love it if our Thanksgiving was around the time of the Canadian Thanksgiving. I think that having Thanksgiving only a month before Christmas is just too much! I think that would help Thanksgiving (which I LOVE) to have its own time, rather than bleeding into Christmas.

    And I do agree that a regular time (last weekend of the month) for certain holidays would be really helpful! It’s fun to dream!

  14. PLEASE do away with daylight savings!

    I understand how holidays at the end of the month are easier to plan for because you have the whole month. – same really for birthdays. Easier to get a card in time for my sister born August 12th than for the one born February 5th.

    For the 4th of July, maybe it would help to think of it as June 34th?

  15. I’m a kindergarten teacher, and I would wholly endorse moving Halloween to the last Saturday in October. It’s awful! It’s a day of kids crawling out of their skin with excitement, and the next day is full of cranky kids who stayed up too late and then crash mid-afternoon from all the candy in their lunch boxes. Who can I petition to move that?!?

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