Halloween was two weeks ago.
In The Happiness Project, I write about celebrating “holiday breakfasts” — when, for minor holidays, I make breakfast fun for my family by putting holiday decorations on the table and using theme colors (I dye the peanut butter black, dye the milk green, etc.). I keep it simple, so it doesn’t become a stressful obligation.
In the most recent episode of the Happier with Gretchen Rubin podcast, my sister Elizabeth and I talked about the fun of holiday breakfasts, and I described my Halloween traditions.
One of the main themes of my happiness project is memory. Time is passing so quickly; I worry that I won’t remember this time of life, what it’s like to have children this age.
My shorthand for this worry is:
The days are long, but the years are short. @gretchenrubin (Click to Tweet!)
Of everything I’ve ever written, my one-minute video, The Years Are Short, is the thing that resonates most with people.
Celebrating minor holidays is one way to make time stand out. Because this day was unusual, it’s more memorable.
Another theme of my happiness project is light-heartedness. Instead of marching around checking things off my to-do list all the time, I want to take time for silliness, for fun, for adventures.
Holiday breakfasts are fun, make time special, and are manageable.
But here’s the thing. I know all this — and yet Monday morning, I completely forgot to celebrate the holiday breakfast! That morning, I realized that it was Halloween, but it never once occurred to me to set up the decorations.
After all that discussion — I just forgot.
I realized by mid-day, when my daughters were already at school, so I set everything up later. But I’m still kicking myself. Breakfast is more fun than dinner! Sheesh.
But oh well. When Valentine’s Day rolls around, I bet I won’t forget again. And I still took photos, and we got to enjoy the skeleton plates and pumpkin heads.
After the podcast episode, many people sent me photos of their holiday breakfasts, and I’ve loved seeing them (plus I’m planning to steal some of the ideas).
Do you celebrate holiday breakfasts? Or do you do something similar to make time special — in a manageable way?
Gretchen Rubin is the author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller The Happiness Project—an account of the year she spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific studies, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier—and the recently released Happier at Home and Better Than Before. On her popular blog, The Happiness Project, she reports on her daily adventures in the pursuit of happiness. For more doses of happiness and other happenings, follow Gretchen on Facebook and Twitter.
Image courtesy of Daniel Roe.
