Something to celebrate

This year, my daughter celebrated St. Patrick’s Day in her preschool.  I find this holiday to be fun and festive and in fact would have been surprised had they not marked it in some way.  It would never occur to me not to celebrate such a day, even though I am not Irish.  

As we prepare for Easter, a mere two weeks after St. Patrick’s Day this year, I find there is a strange correlation in the way we celebrate these two seemingly unconnected holidays.  I know many families that celebrate Easter in their own way, regardless of religious affiliation.  Like St. Patrick’s Day, Easter has also become a holiday that is for everyone, bringing with it traditions and events that may or may not have much to do with the original significance of the day itself.  

Celebrating holidays and events that are not traditionally ours is not unusual in the melting pot of America.  In a country founded by immigrants, certain holidays have become simply a part of the American identity, regardless of the original country our ancestors came from.  For one day, we all can pretend that we are a part of a tradition, be it hunting for Easter eggs, or wearing green, having a margarita on Cinco de Mayo or Chinese food on Chinese New Year.  Even March Madness has the national interest.  For those among us, myself included, who aren’t basketball fans, getting involved and interested is fun.  There is something to be said for the enthusiasm of a mass of people.  It can make you feel like a part of something that technically you aren’t.  

This got me thinking about what other holidays this month are worthy of celebration.  It appears that in the month of March, there is much to celebrate.  In addition to it being Irish American Heritage Month, it is also Music in Our Schools Month, National Nutrition Month, National Women’s History Month and Red Cross Month.  All worthy causes to celebrate and recognize.

To my surprise, I also found a very extensive list on the website holidayinsights.com recognizing specific days that are worthy of our holiday-loving attention.  

Some of these days are genuinely important and have a place in American history, such as Employee Appreciation Day (first Friday in March), Girl Scouts Day (March 12th), Freedom of Information Day (March 16th), International Earth Day (March 20th), National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day (March 29th), and National Doctor’s Day (March 30th), celebrating the first use of general anesthesia in surgery.   

Some celebratory days are legitimate, but seem as if they could be made up, such as National Pig Day (March 1st) or Ear Muff Day on March 13th, celebrating the day the Ear Muff was patented.  There is National Pi Day celebrated on March 14th (get it?  3.14).  Then there is Near Miss Day on March 23rd marking the anniversary of the day in 1989 when a very large asteroid narrowly missed hitting the Earth.

Some celebration days are touching, like Hug a GI Day on March 4th (if this day passed you by without carrying out its mission, I imagine a GI would be appreciative of thanks on any day).

Some of my favorites are simply hilarious like If Pets Had Thumbs Day (March 3rd), Worship of Tools Day (March 11th), Extraterrestrial Abductions Day (March 20th, sharing the day we celebrate Earth Day...coincidence?), and Something on a Stick Day (March 28th).  Some days caution us to beware of even our friends such as Be Nasty Day (March 8th) and the Ides of March (March 15th).

Some of these days are created just for fun, such as National Popcorn Lover’s Day on the second Thursday of March.  A truly “National” day takes an act of Congress, and clearly, regardless of the fact that some of these celebratory days promote themselves as such, they are not.  

After perusing this list and finding great enjoyment in it, I think celebrating such an important holiday like St. Patrick’s Day without being Irish is just fine.  If we can celebrate Ear Muffs and Popcorn, Doctor’s and Girl Scout’s, why not an Irish saint?

Previously published in "The Star," Grand Coulee, Washington. March 20, 2013

An app for every occasion

This Christmas, with some trepidation, I received my first smartphone.  I was very excited about the larger screen size (so I could more easily view pictures) and the ability to connect to the internet when I needed to.  But it wouldn't be stretching the truth to say I was a bit reluctant to be connected to the virtual world at all times.  


For one thing, the very idea of choosing the right app for the right moment is overwhelming.  Without the help of more technologically savvy friends and family, I’m not sure I would even venture into the apps store on my own.  Some apps I find to be quite useful, like the ones that tell you the weather or the very useful flashlight app, but to the uninitiated like me, it seems like the endless array of apps and games are just another way to distract from the life in front of me.

As a parent, I understand that a well-placed app can be great entertainment.  As a baby, it was easy to distract my daughter with the car keys to rattle around or shove in her mouth.  But toddlers can be more demanding creatures, and as my daughter has entered the preschool age, I was shocked to see that my daughter learned to navigate my smartphone faster than I did.

Apparently, this hasn’t gone unnoticed by big companies either.  In the education section of the iTunes app store, 72% of the top-selling apps are designed for preschool and elementary age kids, making it the most popular age category in the education section.

In a recent study by Parenting magazine, they state that 58% of kids ages two to five know how to play a basic computer game, while only 52% can ride a bike.  Although these numbers are surprising at first, on further inspection it may not be as terrible as it seems.  The basics, like tying shoes, are still being learned but just a little later.  On the other hand, kids are learning some more complicated things earlier.

My generation was brought up with our “screen time” being Saturday morning cartoons.  But this generation can also spend their screen time using interactive media.  A recent study at Georgetown University found that interactive media lets kids retain information better than passively watching.  This should come as no surprise.  When you ask a question about what a kid might have learned on that program they were watching, it’s a rare event when they can tell you something concrete that was learned and retained.

Screen time is still something to be monitored, but the benefits of introducing kids to technology sooner are fast outweighing the negatives.  By interacting with a game or book during their screen time, learning becomes simply part of the fun of it.

But like any good thing, sometimes the world of apps and interactive media can be taken too far.  

Although those interactive games are pushing our children’s minds earlier and in creative ways, there is also a warning to parents.  A new study at Temple University says that when a parent lets a child play with a game involving technology, we tend to “spout” instructions rather than focusing on the content of the game.  Instead of playing together, we spend our time directing their actions and the outcome is not quite the same.

Increasingly, there are apps for almost everything.  Just focusing on the parenting aspect of it, there are apps for keeping your kid on track developmentally, monitoring their sleep, or keeping up with their nutrition.  A new app can decipher what your baby or toddler is babbling and tells you if they have just spoken their first official word or sentence.  There are even potty training apps that remind the parent to take the kid to the potty and then links the results to Facebook so all your friends and family can applaud your kid for their success.  

For now, my new phone is not being used to its app-crazy potential.  Maybe, when the time is right, I’ll monitor my life by the device in my hand.  But, for now, I’m happy simply with the larger screen size for pictures.

Previously published in "The Star," Grand Coulee, Washington. March 6, 2013