The 2nd Christmas Day

On the 2nd day of Christmas my true love gave....  

NO, not that one.  And not Boxing Day for all you Canadians, Brits and Aussies.

Today in the Netherlands is the 2nd Christmas Day, following the 1st Christmas Day, naturally, which was yesterday.  Assuming Wiki is right, Lithuania, Austria, Germany, Scandinavia, and Poland also celebrate the 2nd Christmas Day today.  Sharing the love, of course.

That's why the Dutch Christmas greeting in the V&V post yesterday was Prettige Kerstdagen = Pleasant Christmas Days.  There really are two of them.

And both of them are national holidays, so Astrid is home with me today.  But here's how it works.  If December 25 and 26, the two Christmas days, happen to fall on a Saturday and Sunday....  Well, tough luck!  You miss out that year on any extra days apart from the weekend for Christmas, as happened last year.

This is different from most companies in America that follow a Christmas-on-Saturday means Friday is off and Christmas-on-Sunday means Monday is off.  In that regard, they get two Christmas days, too.  That means maybe your significant other is also at home with you today.

Perhaps it's because we need them (the days, that is, not the significant others--HA!).  Have you ever thought about that?  Actually, we usually need at least a week!  I assume all Christmas-celebrating countries close schools everywhere between Christmas and New Years.  The kids are home and one or both parents take off from work.  A time to relax or travel to see relatives.

Or to "dumb" down.  To allow the house to lie fallow after all the zaniness of the last days.  Or maybe WE'RE who need the "fallowing."  Just shut down for awhile.  Take out all the batteries. 

In other words, it's a gift, today, just like yesterday...kinda, sorta.  How will we give it to ourselves and each other?  Astrid and I will maybe finish the jigzaw puzzle we started a month ago....

We may even try to figure out how to end one year before starting another?  Or not!