Calendar Fun

Today is my wedding anniversary. It is the "big" "our day" of the year. It is not, however, the only "our day" of the year. The 10th day of every month is also "our day." Then there's the 5th of each month, our alternate anniversary. My husband proposed on the 5th, we bought our first car on the 5th, we moved on the 5th.

Then, everyone in our family has "their day." Our two oldest girls were each born on the 24th of their respective months. So, the 24th of each month is "their" day. Our oldest son was born on the 20th of his month. So, the 20th of each month is "his" day. A few years later when our youngest two came along they decided to make a slight adjustment. Kind of like leap year. Our son came along on the 21st and our daughter on the 25th. She's excited that Christmas falls on "her" day!

I'm the oddball in the family. My day is the 2nd. My husband's is the 19th, Darrell's the 20th, Christopher's the 21st, Elisa and Shan on the 24th and Abbey on the 25th.

Any time we have a special event or vacation coming up, the kids will make countdown calendars where they cross off the days each morning and keep a running count of how many days are left.

With computerized calendars I no longer have the job of filling in the calendar for the upcoming year. But Abbey - she still keeps a paper calendar and she absolutely loves filling in the birthdays of family members. Fortunately, she still needs my help and it's a project we do together.

In addition to our own personal calendars, we keep a calendar in the kitchen. this is the family calendar and one that has to be agreed on by everyone. We also don't buy it until after Christmas and/or the New Year when they're marked down 50%. Yes, we're cheap, too. This year is the only one we've been disappointed. We have one of those inspirational calendars. I'm all for inspiration but these were all extreme athletes and frankly, a little rough to face first thing each morning. Now in recent years we were greeted each morning with the likes of Thomas the Tank Engine and all his friends, and Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka in the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Abbey, in order to cover all bets, has already chosen a High School Musical calendar for '08. She opted for it as a Christmas present just in case we couldn't find one after the holidays or if we didn't all agree to it. Personally I wouldn't mind choosing something "mom-like" but hey - the kids will be gone soon enough and then I'll just have to fight Ken for calendar rights. I can see it now... Grey's Wrinkled Anatomy vs Pirates of the Dead Caribbean!

Happy Anniversary to Us! Happy Holidays to You!