Memorial Day Weekend

Not sure if I knew this and forgot it or never knew this, but Memorial Day used to be celebrated annually on May 30. In the early 1970s it was changed to the last Monday in May to create three-day weekends for the American workforce. There has been a movement for some time to re-establish May 30 as the official holiday. The thought is that by creating a three-day weekend of picnics, parties, pool openings, and ushering in the unofficial start of summer, people are losing sight of the reason why for celebrating the holiday in the first place.

While that may sound a little crotchety and "back-in-my-day"-ish, the point is well-taken. As someone who lives far away from most relatives, Government-sponsored three-day weekends are golden. But there is no reason why we can't take the time on May 30 to fly the flag at half staff until noon or to mark a moment of remembrance for our nation's fallen heroes in addition to the normal Memorial Day weekend blowouts.

Speaking of blowouts, are Memorial Day parades ever advertised? To be fair, I was never a big fan of parades before I was a father, but now that we have kids, I enjoy them even less. Still, we can tell you the exact minute of the Rose Bowl Parade, Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, and most St. Patrick's Day drunkenfests, but I seem to never know when and where the Memorial Day parade is, or if there even is one in my town.

Essentially, parents, take it from a teacher's husband that if you want to save yourself a little embarrassment on Tuesday when/if their teacher asks, take a few minutes this weekend to remind your children that the reason we are celebrating this weekend is not so we remember "to open our beach house" or "to uncover the pool." That is, if you might be embarrassed by those sorts of things. Your kids are just reporting the facts.

To see ways to appropriately celebrate Memorial Day, click here.