Iknow that every day of our life is special, no one has to tell me that, but apparently there are a lot of people who feel the need to do that anyway. They give the days and weeks special names and I don’t mean Monday, Tuesday, etc. They have taken the old concept of Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day and run with it — and you can’t even buy a greeting card for all of these new days.
These new designations are called commemorative months, weeks and days, and they are created to raise awareness about an issue, to commemorate a group or an event, or to celebrate something.
My co-worker Robin Russo and I have been keeping a list of many of the press releases that have come across our desks over the past year to announce just such days. Many have merit, such as National Women’s Heart Health Month in February or National Autism Awareness Month, or National Child Abuse Prevention Month, both in April. April is also National Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
Designations like those were obviously created with the intent to raise public awareness of matters that can have a significant impact on many people — and I applaud the efforts of those who contribute to those kinds of days, But there are far more names attributed to days, weeks and months lately that just don’t make any sense to me and I have to wonder why?
Why would people take the time and effort to think up things like National Frozen Food Month, celebrated in March, and National Salad Month in May? I don’t see the point in honoring foods that can’t appreciate the implication of it, but obviously someone does.
Did you know you could celebrate National Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day in April? Another day that naturally occurs in conjunction with that must be National Make Fun of Your Co-Worker in Pajamas Day, although I’m not sure that day is on any official register.
In September I got to wish someone in my office a happy National Punctuation Day and she appreciated it, but that’s because punctuation is important to most people in my office, especially the head of the copy editors, Adele Young. Punctuation is her life.
If you’re interested, you can celebrate Long Term Care Awareness Day in January and National Probation Parole and Community Supervision Week in July, and National Craft Month in March.
National Volunteer Recognition Week is in April and National Scuba Month is in June. National Fitness Month is in May, which is totally undermined by National Ice Cream Month in July.
Free Comic Book Day is May 3 and National Play Records Day is in April, which shares the month in harmony with National Piano Month.
National Garden Month is in April. April is also National Poetry Month, National Humor Month, and it has National Scrapbook Day and National Library Week, which has the subcategory of National Library Worker’s Day under it.
March has National Consumer Protection Week and Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week. It’s also Women’s History Month and Youth Art Month, but the most beautiful day in the neighborhood during the month of March has to be when Mr. Rogers’ Sweater Day is celebrated.
Along those same lines, the National Education Association celebrates Dr. Seuss’s birthday and calls it Read Across America Day. The day that appeals themost tome is Jan. 10, World Massage Day. If it comes with a free massage, I’ll celebrate all day long.
Robin and I came up with a few of our own that we would like to nominate for inclusion in the National Register of National Days, if such a list exists. How about National Leave Early From Work Week and National Sleep Late Day?
Then there’s National Let’s Not Cook Week and the ever-popular National Do No Laundry Month, which would have to run in conjunction with National Stinky Socks Month. We really liked the idea of National Let’s Go Shopping Week, which would have to share the slot with National Let’s Get Things for Free Week.
But the best by far would have to be National Zero Calorie Week, where you can eat anything and not get fat. That should definitely be held in July – National Ice Cream Month.
Contact Amy Rosen at [email protected].