Little Known Holidays in November

Everyone knows that Thanksgiving is coming up this month. But that's not the only holiday that is worth celebrating this month! November is chock-full of special days! Here is a list of days you can celebrate, and some quick suggestions on how to do so.

1^st: Book Lover's Day! Celebrate by going to the bookstore or library with your entire family, and letting everyone pick out a book or two to take home. Find special places to sit quietly and read... or everyone can sit together in the same room and read! Even toddlers and infants can be read to. It's a good idea to get kids into the habit of being read to, as early as possible, so that books are just a natural, pleasant part of their everyday lives as they get older. (For advice on what and how to read to infants and toddlers, check out this article: )

2^nd: Cookie Monster Day! If you're a Sesame Street fan, there's a good chance that this blue monster with a sweet tooth for cookies and a lack of impulse control is your favorite character. Celebrate Cookie Monster today by baking, and sharing, some cookies... and maybe watching some Sesame Street videos!

3^rd: Sandwich Day! Now that you spent a whole day eating cookies, its time to spend a whole day eating sandwiches! Go buy a bunch of sandwich fixings, and challenge your family members to create, and name, their own unique sandwiches. You can even have sandwiches for breakfast! Set out things like pancakes, French toast, waffles, and regular toast to use as the end pieces of your sandwiches, and fill them up with all of your favorite breakfast foods!

4^th: King Tut Day! Take a break from eating sandwiches and cookies, and immerse yourself in something educational. This day celebrates the discovery of the tomb of Egypt's child king, in 1922. Your local library most likely has some interesting videos and DVD's about King Tut! Check them out!

5^th: National Men Make Dinner Day! Men, this day is for you! Make dinner! Make it for your wife or girlfriend, your kids, your parents, your neighbors, the folks at the homeless shelter, or anyone! Or, make it for yourself. Spend some time planning your favorite meal, and then carrying it out. Show the world that men are great cooks! And women, if you know a man who already makes dinner on a regular basis, give him a big hug today... and maybe offer to make dessert?

6^th: Marooned Without a Compass Day! Hmm, this is a weird one. Well, there are two ways to look at it. Number one, you can dedicate this day to learning how to find your way home from anywhere by using the sun, moon and stars to tell directions. Or, number two, you can make this a day of total relaxation, maroon yourself on an island (or inside your house, or anywhere else you enjoy being) and just chill and wait for someone to come rescue you tomorrow.

7^th: International Tongue Twister Day! How good are you at tongue twisters? Saying tongue twisters is fun for the whole family, and a great evening activity for everyone to enjoy! Here are some to practice!

8^th: Cook Something Bold And Pungent Day! The weather is getting colder, and your windows and doors are kept shut, so when you cook, the whole house will be filled with this bold, pungent smell. Cheeses, spices, sauces and more... what will you be cooking that will cause people in all different rooms of your house to say, "Mmmmm, dinner must almost be ready!"

8^th: National Parents As Teachers Day! Parents, you are your children's very first teachers. So take a break from cooking bold and pungent things, and visit this website.You can learn a lot about how you can teach your children, and even sign up for a newsletter that will give you regular tips for your child's specific age. For instance, if you sign up when your child is fourteen months old, each month you will learn what your child should be doing (at 15 months, 16 months, 17 months, etc) and how you can help your child continue to develop and learn.

9^th: World Orphans Day! Lets take time to think about a serious world issue. According to UNICEF, there are 132.7 million orphaned children in the world. By the year 2010, that number will include 20 million children orphaned by AIDS. Today, take time to think about the orphans worldwide. Do something special for orphans... whether that means deciding to commit to sponsoring an orphan through an organization, saving up some money to make a donation to an organization that helps orphans, or just saying a special prayer tonight for orphans everywhere.

10^th: Forget-Me-Not Day! Do you have friends, family members and other loved ones out in the world who you haven't spoken to in quite a while? You wouldn't want them to think you've forgotten about them, would you? Today, take some time to reach out to those people. You can send email Forget-Me-Not cards to everyone in your address book, send more personal hand-written notes through the mail, or reach out through the phone. Many people choose to mail out packets of Forget-Me-not flower seeds to their loved ones, as well!

11^th: Veteran's Day! While we're on the topic of reaching out to people and making sure not to forget them, be sure not to forget to honor the veterans you know! Veterans of every war have fought to protect our country, and many even died fighting. Be sure to participate in any Veteran's Day celebrations that might be happening in your community!

12^th: Chicken Soup For the Soul Day! With all of this reaching out and remembering, your soul might be feeling exhausted! How about some Chicken Soup For the Soul? Grab any one of the Chicken Soup For the Soul books from the bookstore or library, and with your family and friends, take turns choosing your favorite stories from the book and reading them aloud. You may want to enjoy some real chicken soup, as well!

13^th: World Kindness Day! Be kind. Its that simple. Make sure that kindness is behind all of your actions. You can also make sure to do some extra kind things today. For some kind ideas, check out the Acts Of Kindness website.

14^th: National American Teddy Bear Day! This is one of my favorites, because I love teddy bears. Be sure to hug the Teddy Bear in your life and spend some extra time with him today! Build-A-Bear and Vermont Teddy Bears often have special celebrations on this day, so if you live near one of these companies, find out if there's something special your family can participate in today!

15^th: Clean Your Refrigerator Day. Okay... not so fun. But you gotta do it, right? If everyone pitches in, it will go fast... and then, since your refrigerator is empty, you might as well go out to dinner together, right?

16^th: International Day For Tolerance! Tolerance is important. Intolerance is dangerous. These two statements are facts. Are we teaching our kids... and adults, for that matter... about tolerance? Our world is filled with people from different cultures and religions, who have different political views, different ways of doing things, etc. We all need to learn to appreciate each other's differences. But if we can't appreciate differences, we still must tolerate differences. This means, no violence towards others just because they are different, no teasing, no unkind words, no discrimination. In other words, if you can't say (or do) anything nice, don't say or do anything at all.

17^th: Homemade Bread Day! Mmmm, everyone loves bread, right? Making it is easier than you may think. You don't even need to own a bread maker! Braided bread, banana bread, and zucchini bread are some of my personal favorites. What are yours?

17^th: Take A Hike Day! You just ate all that homemade bread, so now you'd better get some exercise! How about a nice hike? This is the perfect time of year for it.. Gather your family members around, find some nice walking sticks, and take a nice, brisk hike through the woods! (I've also heard that this is a good day to tell someone to "take a hike" if they've proven themselves to be detrimental to your life... but that's up to you!)

18^th: Mickey Mouse Day! Yep, it really is. Go find some old Mickey Mouse cartoons and see how much this famous mouse has changed throughout his 70-plus years of life!

19^th: Have A Bad Day Day! This is sort of a weird day, meant for those of you who are sick of hearing, or having to tell people, "Have a good day!" Today, you have special permission to tell people, "Have a bad day!" But if this plan does not go particularly well for you, do not blame me!

20^th: World Children's Day! There are several different special days throughout the year, with similar titles that involve children. This particular one is a day of fundraising for Ronald McDonald House Charities. Go to your local McDonalds and see what they have going on!

20^th: Great American Smokeout! If you smoke, this is a great day to quit! You'll have the company of millions of others who will be quitting on this day as well. In fact, if you find quitting smoking to be something you're not ready to do, how about deciding to put out your cigarette just for today? Many schools, universities, companies and communities will have special events happening to help you keep your mind off of your smokes!

21^st: World Television Day! Many times I have listened to a child blurt out some complicated piece of information, and then, when I asked them where they learned it, heard them reply, "From TV!" Contrary to popular belief, television can be very educational and positive. Today, hug your TV! Or just watch it.

22^nd: National Adoption Day! Here is a special day meant to bring awareness to the many children in the USA and the world who are waiting for someone to adopt them If your family includes people who have adopted children, or people who were adopted themselves, then this might have special meaning for them! A lot of families who are in the process of adopting choose to have their adoptions finalized on this special day. One reason may be because it is always celebrated on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. So, families who make their adoptions official on this day will be able to begin celebrating their first holiday as an official family just a few days later!

22nd: National Family Volunteer Day! This is a day to encourage families to do volunteer work together, and to recognize the families that already do. What a great day to begin volunteering with your entire family! You don't have to make a long time commitment. Many people find volunteer opportunities that happen just one a year, or once a month. Check out http://disney.go.com/disneyhand/familyvolunteers/ to find the perfect volunteer opportunity for your family.

23^rd: Eat A Cranberry Day! Its almost Thanksgiving, so why not start the holiday a little early? Just eat one cranberry. Maybe two.

24^th: Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day! Everyone has a truly unique talent of some kind. Whether you have a talent such as writing, singing, or acting, or something else such as burping the alphabet through your nose, today is the day to celebrate it! Why not have a family talent show?

25^th: International Day For the Elimination of Violence Against Women! This day was created by the United Nations to raise public awareness of a very serious problem. Today, speak out and let the world (or at least your friends and family members) know how you feel about violence against women. Many women who are victims of domestic violence, or other types of violence such as rape, choose to keep it a secret. They feel that they are somehow to blame, or that asking for help makes them seem weak and dependent. A well-placed conversation about this topic may help a woman decide to look for help or get out of a bad situation. While you're at it, have a similar conversation with your kids. Make sure they know that any kind of violence is bad, and that they should neither participate in being violent against another person, or accept violence against themselves.

26^th: Shopping Reminder Day: The winter holidays are coming up fast! Christmas is only a month away! This might be a good time to start shopping.

27t^h: Thanksgiving! This one is obvious. What are you thankful for today? Also, if you've ever thought about becoming a vegetarian, this is also a good day to start, by celebrating Turkey-Free Thanksgiving!

28^th: Your Welcome Day! When someone gives thanks, the polite thing to do is say, "You're Welcome!" This is a day for putting manners back into society. When you hear someone say "thank you," be sure to follow up with your own polite comeback of "You're welcome!"

28^th: Black Friday! This is the day after Thanksgiving, when many big stores have special sales. But you might also like to celebrate Buy Nothing Day, which falls on the same day,. Buy Nothing Day is a protest against Black Friday, encouraging people to instead take this day to spend time together, and get into the real spirit of the upcoming holidays.

28^th: Make Your Own Head Day! If you are celebrating Buy Nothing Day, you might need a project to keep yourself and your loved ones busy. Why don't you all make your own heads? Gather up some craft materials. (If you have to buy something for this project, do it days ahead of time, so as not to violate Buy Nothing Day!) Make your own beautiful heads. They don't have to look like your particular real heads. Use your creativity!

29^th: Square Dance Day! With Thanksgiving behind you, you might want to consider getting some physical activity into your schedule to help you burn off all of those extra calories. How about learning to square dance?

30^th: Stay Home Because You Are Well Day! You've had a hard month. You've done a lot of celebrating. You need a day off. Today, call in sick... even though you are well! Some sites recommend calling in and just saying, "I'm calling in well," but that might not go over so well with your boss. You might want to just fake like you're sick, and then stay home and enjoy your day!