Happy #NationalPieDay! I've recently started to incorporate the National Days into our homeschooling, and it's been so much fun so far. There is actually a National Day Calendar, and they have an app as well as classroom things for each day, even print outs and worksheets. There are thousands of National Days, and their theme is to "Celebrate Every Day" and I really dig this concept.
National Days aren't exactly real holidays, but they are often recognized by organizations and businesses, though usually with some sort of promotion and not a day off of work like federal holidays. Many of the National Days are established by these same businesses and organizations to promote products or to spread awareness. Still, it's a neat idea to take some time each day to acknowledge a person, place or thing and learn a little more about said person place or thing that we didn't know prior.
I think it is important to essentially celebrate each and every day of life and what a memorable thing to fit into our curriculum. More importantly, perhaps it's a better lesson to look for something every day to celebrate, like the simple things. This is a skill you are often forced to cultivate later in life, after you have been taught to always think about the so-called bigger things and place importance elsewhere. If I can teach my children to celebrate and appreciate the mundane things in life, now, then there's a good chance they'll learn to accept later how mundane life can be, in general, without disappointment or discomfort. With all the dopamine fixes and stimulation in the world today, we need, even more so, anchored into our everyday lives and that's generally what traditions do.
So far this year, we have celebrated #NationalPopcornDay with some Cracker Jack history and a box of their own and some microwave popcorn making. #StephenFosterMemorialDay led us to playlists that we are still listening to, including the classics "Beautiful Dreamer" and "Camptown Races", which are our favorites. We made chili on #NationalBeanDay, which we said technically also counted for January being #NationalSoupMonth! Jasper was very interested in #NationalBirdDay which we commemorated by talking about wild birds and purchasing a window feeder so we can watch them better. We snuggled on #NationalCuddleUpDay and talked about how precious life is on #CelebrationOfLifeDay. We hugged extra on #NationalHuggingDay and of course got strawberry ice cream for #StrawberryIceCreamDay and it's only January!
Every day there are generally several National Days occurring, so it's going to take us YEARS to celebrate everything, but what do we have other than time and the rest of our lives together? If we make it a quirky tradition now, it may follow the kids into adulthood. Every day at The Brainery is another opportunity to learn something new. My husband had never made a pumpkin pie before today, but Jasper emphatically requested pumpkin, while Celie wanted peach for our celebration. He ended up making both, and Jasper was beside himself, helping his dad make the pies and then waiting patiently for them to bake. He even got upset that I had to put it back in for a few more minutes when it wasn't quite done but worked on developing his patience. After it finished cooling, just enough to be eaten, he gave it a silent thumbs up. That's the Jasper stamp of approval. We'll hopefully be making good memories for years to come along with these messes and treats! I look forward to continuing to incorporate these kinds of things into our everyday life as we adventure further into our journey of fun and learning.
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