Celebrate Each Day

As Valentine’s Day passed into Washington’s Birthday, and on to President’s Day, I notice there are many days to officially celebrate.

But I wouldn’t have ‘noticed’ so much, if I didn’t have a six year old reminding me days in advance. My daughter, now that she can read, looks on her calendar each day to see what special event is coming up. She told me about President’s Day before I knew it was coming. She tells us a few days in advance when the full moon will show, as well as when we will see the new moon (she wanted to “see” the new moon not long ago – I had to tell her we can’t “see” a new moon…). And it IS with enthusiasm that I hear about these events. That new moon announcement was made with the same excitement as President’s Day just was.

And with both my son and daughter, smiles and laughter are inevitably part of a new “event”. With so many special days recently passed, I began to think, why can’t we celebrate more often?

I’m not talking about just celebrating national holidays. Why can’t we create more events or even moments in our lives that are memorable?

After all, our brains remember new events more easily than they remember the same thing over and over. Do you remember how many times you had chicken and potatoes last year? On the other hand, do you remember how many times you had a big turkey dinner? Or went to a fancy new restaurant? Or went camping? Those new or celebrated events are more memorable.

Same goes with vacations. When we go away, we are celebrating… celebrating togetherness, new adventures, or a change in routine. We remember and cherish these moments.

So, I have decided we need to celebrate days and moments more often. And in order to do this, I have some ideas for how to celebrate with minimal preparation, in the middle of busy times, and without breaking the bank:

Light candles for dinner more often.

Have a glass of wine.

Toast (to anything!) with our kids at dinner.

Visit someplace new each week.

Pretend some days are “vacation” days… toast hot dogs and marshmallows, make margaritas (or kids’ frothy drinks), go swimming.

Celebrate things once they are completed…

…Ice cream at McDonald’s, a trip to the library, hot chocolate or fruit smoothies, a movie.

Invite new friends over for dinner for… President’s day, or the full moon!

Send impromptu photos or notes to far away friends.

Celebrate each other – our kids love writing notes to Mom and Dad.

Enjoy the warmth of the sunshine.

Stop cleaning up when the kids ask for you – and truly enjoy the moment that they are discovering something new or fun.

I know I will think of more ways to celebrate, but hopefully this will give us a start, to celebrate each day… after all, time flies by, we’ll wonder where it went, and it can’t be recaptured.

So “cheers” (clink) to capturing moments, and celebrating days.