What to Celebrate December 2 thru 8, 2019
Celebration Ideas for December 2 – 8, 2019
So Thanksgiving is over and the holiday shopping season is truly here. Whether or not you’re a Black Friday & Cyber Monday lover or hater, we’re here with plenty of other options.
Although a few do focus on your holiday shopping. Like Safe Toys & Gifts Month. And others just take advantage of your holiday spirit (you do have holiday spirit, right?). Like Operation Santa Paws and Giving Tuesday.
But others are just a great way to take a little break and relax. Like Bathtub Party Day. Or Dice Day. And Rhubarb Vodka Day.
There’s plenty more too, of course. So before you’re too exhausted from all your deal-getting, dive right in to take a peek and plan your week.
And as always …
Enjoy!
Celebrate All December Long
For December we make sure the kids and the animals have a safe, bright holiday. And wear ties while doing it.
Operation Santa Paws: Help shelter animals have a brighter holiday with a donation of toys, treats, or supplies to Operation Santa Paws. Because shelter animals didn’t ask to be stuck in cold cages instead of spoiled in warm, loving homes.
Safe Toys and Gifts Month: Make sure the gifts you give this holiday season are age-appropriate and safe! And don’t assume you know what’s safe, because sometimes it’s less about the actual safety of the item and more about how it gets used. That’s why many toys include ages. We’re wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday season.
National Tie Month: Do you wear ties to your holiday parties? If you’re celebrating Tie Month properly you do! There’s lots of fun holiday ties you can use to inject some brightness into your days too.
Weekly Celebrations for December’s 1st Week
We start out December with some serious awareness weeks that can help keep our holidays joyful. Because getting sick, getting in a car accident, or losing a pet to a preventable accident is not the way to spend this month (or any month).
But it’s not all serious. Bakers get to have fun making cookies in festive shapes.
National Handwashing Awareness Week: Washing your hands regularly (and especially before touching your face!) can help keep you from getting sick. And now, during cold & flu season, is the perfect time to remind everybody—kids & adults alike—to do just that.
Older Driver Safety Awareness Week: Getting older means changes in our ability to see clearly and react quickly. Aging doesn’t necessarily have to mean giving up driving. But it does mean taking steps to ensure continued safety behind the wheel. And yes, sometimes also knowing when to stop driving & find other transportation options.
National Pet Suffocation Awareness Week: We love our pets & do our best to keep them safe. But how often do we think about suffocation dangers? Probably not too often! But pets can and do suffocate in snack and other food bags. And it only takes a few minutes. So always make sure bags are out of reach of your pets, even if you’re at home.
Cookie Cutter Week: The winter holidays are a prime cookie baking time. Often those cookies are made into festive holiday shapes using cookie cutters. So this is the perfect time to celebrate those useful little tools. How? By using them, of course! And maybe by buying yourself some cool new cookie cutters, too.
Celebration Days coming up for Dec. 2 thru Dec. 8
Put down the Thanksgiving leftovers and enjoy some fritters, gazpacho, and pears. And rhubarb vodka to go with it!
Warm your heart by helping mutts and wildlife. And doing more good for Giving Tuesday.
Play with dice, have a party in your bathtub, and make like a time traveller.
And in between the fun, get serious for a bit to commemorate the attack on Pearl Harbor and the worst mining accident in our history.
All in all it looks like there’s plenty here to help you have another fun-tastic (if occasionally sobering) week.
December 2:
National Mutt Day: This is the 2nd day this year celebrating mixed-breed dogs. And why not? Mutts are just as just as sweet & loving as (and often healthier than!) pure-bred dogs. If you’re planning to add a dog to your family, this is a great day to head out to the shelter & check out all the mutts! And help spread the word about the day, too.
Safety Razor Day: On this day we celebrate the safety razor. So shave something safely today. But please only shave your own body parts. Or get permission before shaving someone else!
Cyber Monday: Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re no doubt well aware of this day. So after spending Black Friday (and possibly the whole weekend) chasing down fantastic deals at every store in a 20-mile radius, spend this day in your pjs in front of the computer … chasing down more deals at all your favorite websites!
Cider Monday: As an antidote to the Cyber Monday craziness, some independent bookstores offer a more personalized experience. Complete with free cider. The day started with a single bookseller in New Hampshire back in 2013. Since then other independent bookstores have joined in. Some are listed on the Cider Monday site. But if you don’t see one near you, why not ask your local independent bookstore if it’s participating?
National Fritters Day: On this day we must eat deep-fried (or occasionally pan-fried!) morsels of delight. Whether you prefer your fritters with veggies (corn fritters), fruit (apple fritters), or something else entirely (meat or potato), make or buy your favorites and indulge.
December 3:
International Day of Persons with Disabilities: This day recognizes the rights of people with disabilities and raises awareness of the hurdles they still face in their everyday lives. The day began in 1992 and while much has improved since then, there’s still work to do. This year’s theme for the day is Promoting the participation of persons with disabilities and their leadership: taking action on the 2030 Development Agenda.
National Roof Over Your Head Day: Just because Thanksgiving is over doesn’t mean we should stop being thankful! In fact, we should be thankful for what we have every day of the year. On this particular day, everyone lucky enough to have a roof over their heads can be thankful for that.
Giving Tuesday: The day after retailers do good by giving us amazing online deals, we take our turn at doing good. We give back to our communities in whatever ways we can. (Businesses can keep doing good by also joining in this day).
World Trick Shot Day: Practice your trick shots! Make sure you get them recorded too, so you can post your best ones for the world to see. The Harlem Globetrotters created this day in 2016.
December 4:
World Wildlife Conservation Day: Support protection of our wildlife for this day. And help spread the word about this day and the importance of wildlife to the health of our planet. Here are just a few of the species the US Endangered Species Act protects.
National Sock Day: On this day we celebrate matching socks! But not a new pair of matching socks (although founders Pair of Thieves probably wouldn’t complain if you bought a new pair or two). No, this day celebrates pairs of socks that successfully make it through a load of laundry. And we all know how rare that is, so a celebration is definitely justified. The date chosen commemorates 2 toe-tapping events that also happened on Dec. 4: The Judd’s final concert in 1991, and the final curtain on the Broadway musical On Your Toes in 1954.
National Dice Day: Take a break from your holiday prep & stress to play with dice. What game you play is entirely up to you. Games of chance are always fun (unless you have a gambling problem, in which case please choose another game or celebration for the day). Maybe you prefer role playing games. Or your favorite childhood board game. The only requirement is that the game use dice.
National Package Protection Day: Package theft happens all year. But the holidays, with lots of extra packages making their way around the country, are especially “popular” with package thieves. This day reminds us to be aware of the problem and take steps to try to keep our packages safe.
National Cookie Day: Cookies! By now you’ve probably started baking your holiday cookies (if you do such things, anyway!). So this should be an easy day to celebrate. Just enjoy some of your home-baked goodies. Make up plates for the neighbors, too. And if you don’t bake? Head to your favorite bakery & buy some. (And bakeries: Offer some special deals for this day!)
December 5:
Bathtub Party Day: Skip the shower and instead enjoy a satisfying soak in the tub. Add music & wine for a party atmosphere. Voilà! You have yourself a bathtub party.
International Ninja Day: Show off all your best ninja moves for this day. Keep it real by dressing like a ninja. And talking like one too … do ninjas talk?! Then wind down after a long day of nija-ing with your favorite ninja movie.
World Soil Day: Healthy soil is critical to life. Because without it how can we grow food? But soil erosion is a worldwide problem. This day raises awareness of this problem and asks us all to ensure healthy soils for a healthy ecosystem.
National Sacher Torte Day: For this day you must enjoy a torte (which is a kind of cake). But not just any torte! Only a Sacher torte will do. So what’s so special about a Sacher torte? It was created by 16-year-old Franz Sacher in 1832. And to this day the original recipe is a secret, with the tortes served only at the Sacher Hotels. But you can still enjoy apricot jam sandwiched between chocolate sponge cake layers & covered with a chocolate glaze. Here’s a recipe for you to try.
December 6:
Miners’ Day: This day honors those hardworking people who risk their lives every day to excavate the raw materials that go into the products we use daily. The date commemorate the worst mining accident in US history, when 326 miners died in Monogah, West Virginia on December 6, 1907. If you know any miners, thank them for this day.
Faux Fur Friday: No matter what you think of real fur, for this day only faux fur allowed. Whether you’re wearing or buying or both, make sure it didn’t come from an animal. And make sure you bring attention to your faux fur, showing anyone who’ll listen how it looks just as luxurious as the real stuff (so there’s no need for the real stuff!).
Mitten Tree Day: If you have kids, read them the book the day most likely comes from: The Mitten Tree by Candace Christiansen. Heck, even if you don’t have kids, read it. It’s a sweet story anyone can love.
National Microwave Oven Day: Celebrate the convenience the microwave oven has brought into our lives since its invention in 1945 … once they got to be small enough & inexpensive enough for the general public anyway. Those early models were huge & cost thousands of dollars!
National Gazpacho Day: For some reason we keep celebrating cold soups during these cold days! (The days must have started someplace where November & December are summer months). But no matter, gazpacho is delicious whatever the weather. So whip up a batch to enjoy. Try this recipe if you don’t have one.
December 7:
National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day: Take a moment to remember the thousands of lives lost or forever changed in the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor in 1941.
Earmuff Day / Chester Greenwood Day: Earmuffs (and Chester) get 2 celebrations each year! This day celebrates the 15-year-old Chester’s invention of these handy ear protectors. Every year his hometown of Farmington, Maine holds a parade in his honor on the 1st Saturday of December. In March we celebrate his patent for the earmuff. And actually Chester has yet another day … the state of Maine declared a Chester Greenwood Day for December 21 in 1977.
Bartender Appreciation Day: On this day we honor the people who pour our drinks & listen to our tales of woe. If you’re a regular at any bar(s), make sure you thank your bartenders for all the help they’ve given you! And leave them extra-generous tips too. You know they deserve it!
National Rhubarb Vodka Day: When Maple River Distillery created rhubarb vodka in 2010 it was an instant hit. And now we celebrate this delightful concoction on the 1st Saturday in December every year. So get yourself a bottle and have a shot. Or make this simple Rhubarb Pie Martini.
National Cotton Candy Day: Take a trip down memory lane with a bag (or stick) of cotton candy. We’re not sure how well cotton candy pairs with rhubarb vodka, but we’re willing to give it a shot!
December 8:
Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day: Pick a time period to pretend you’re from. Then act amazed at what you see today. Either at how advanced it is (if you’re from the past) or how primitive it is (if you’re from the future). Of course, you’ll have to be confused about how to use things. Especially technology. And above all, have fun with it!
Worldwide Candle Lighting Day: On this day we come together to light candles for loved ones who have left too soon: children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, & others. Candle lightings happen at 7 pm local time, to create a wave of light across the world.
Bodhi Day: Celebrate the day the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, attained enlightenment while sitting under the Bodhi tree (a fig tree). Take some time to sit and reflect yourself. On your life and on life in general.
World Pear Day: It’s peak pear season, and pear tasting events will be happening around the world for this day. And if you happen to be near Leavenworth, Washington head to the Tree Lighting Festival and meet some pear growers in person.
National Brownie Day: Make and eat brownies. ‘Nuff said.
