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National Regifting Day

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Today is National Regifting Day, a holiday invented in 2006 by a credit counseling service and made official in 2008 with a proclamation by Colorado governor Bill Ritter, Jr. It’s always celebrated on the third Thursday of December, which just happens to be the most popular day for company Christmas parties and their Secret Santa gift exchanges. Coincidence? You decide.

national regifting day

Before you attempt to regift unwanted presents, there are some things you need to know.

  1. You should be reasonably certain the recipient will enjoy your (unwanted) gift. Be honest–with yourself, of course. When it comes to your “regiftee,” you’re going to lie like a rug.
  2. The gift must be brand new and in its original packaging.
  3. Don’t regift a personalized item!
  4. Examine it closely—very closely–to ensure you’ve removed any tags before you wrap it in new paper.
  5. Be careful not to regift something to the original giver. (Rookie mistake!) If you can’t remember who gave it to you, don’t give it to anyone else.
  6. Regift only when you are sure the new recipient won’t tell the original giver about what they received from you. Try to regift in different social circles.
  7. Be prepared to fully commit to the lie. If you don’t have a ready response to a question like, “Where did you find this? I’ve been looking everywhere for one!” your ruse will be exposed.

If anything goes wrong, know that the resulting moment of embarrassment will feel like it stretches to infinity. On second thought, why not donate it to charity and give something new? You may get it back next year. Act surprised.

See also:
The Label Maker – Seinfeld’s origins of regifting

Copyright 2016 Worldwide Weird Holidays

December 12 is Poinsettia Day

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poinsettia dayToday is Poinsettia Day, which marks the death of Joel Roberts Poinsett on December 12, 1851. Poinsett was appointed in 1825 by President John Quincy Adams as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Mexico. (The title “Ambassador” wasn’t created until 1896.)

While there, Poinsett, an amateur botanist, introduced the American elm to Mexico. In 1829, he returned to his home in South Carolina with cuttings of a shrub with red flowers and cultivated it in his greenhouse.

The plant has a rich history in Mexico. The Aztecs called it Cuitlaxochitl (from cuitlatl, for residue, and xochitl, for flower) and used the leaves to dye fabrics and the sap to control fevers. Today it’s known in Mexico and Guatemala as La Flor de la Nochebuena (Flower of the Holy Night) and is displayed during celebrations of the Dia de la Virgen de Guadalupe, which also happens to take place on December 12.

poinsettia day

We’re not sure who started the rumor that poinsettias are poisonous, but we’ve found many studies refuting it, including this one, published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine:

To determine if there was any validity to the toxicity claims, 849,575 plant exposures reported to the American Association of Poison Control Centers were electronically analyzed. Poinsettia exposures accounted for 22,793 cases and formed the subset that was analyzed to critically evaluate the morbidity and mortality associated with poinsettia exposures. There were no fatalities among all poinsettia exposures and 98.9% were accidental in nature, with 93.3% involving children. The majority of exposed patients (96.1%) were not treated in a health care facility and 92.4% did not develop any toxicity related to their exposure to the poinsettia.

Experts say a fifty-pound child would have to eat at least five hundred leaves just to get a bellyache. Since they taste terrible and a plant has a fraction of that number of leaves, it’s unlikely anyone is going to make a meal of them.

Although poinsettia leaves won’t kill pets, either, its emetic properties can make them throw up which, let’s face it, is no fun for anyone involved. Just to be on the safe side, keep it away from Fido and Mr. Whiskers. Everyone else can enjoy the sight of this iconic symbol of the holiday season and have a happy (and healthy) Poinsettia Day!

Copyright 2016 Worldwide Weird Holidays

Worldwide Candle Lighting

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Worldwide Candle LightingThe Worldwide Candle Lighting ceremony is held each year on the second Sunday of December. It was created by The Compassionate Friends (TCF), a non-profit organization that assists grieving families.

Stephen Simmons, a chaplain at England’s Warwickshire Hospital, founded TCF in 1969. After bringing together two sets of grieving parents, he realized the support they gave one another was better than anything he could provide.

The group grew as word of it spread around the globe. In 1978, it crossed the ocean and was incorporated in Illinois. The first Worldwide Candle Lighting took place there in 1997. 

The annual observance unites family and friends to remember sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and grandchildren gone too soon. Participants light candles from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. local time.

Considered the largest mass candle lighting on the planet, the Worldwide Candle Lighting produces a virtual 24-hour wave of light as it moves from one timezone to the next. Hundreds of formal events are conducted while thousands of families meet in private to honor the memories of departed loved ones and express gratitude for the time they shared.

TCF and allied organizations are joined by local bereavement groups, churches, funeral homes, hospitals, hospices, children’s gardens, schools, cemeteries, and community centers. Services have ranged in size from just a few people to nearly a thousand.

If no Worldwide Candle Lighting service was held near you last year and you’d like to hold one, TCF invites you to use its Suggestions to Help Plan a Memorial Service in Conjunction with The Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting© to help you organize an event. Submit the information to the TCF website so it can add your service to the many others held in the U.S. and around the world.

The Worldwide Candle Lighting encourages bereaved families everywhere to “light a candle for all children who have died…that their lights may always shine.”

Copyright 2016 Worldwide Weird Holidays

Tio de Nadal

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Some homes hang stockings from the mantelpiece. Families in Catalonia, Spain, celebrate the run-up to Christmas by placing a Tió de Nadal in front of the fireplace. Although Tió de Nadal translates most wholesomely to “Christmas log,” it is better known by the name Caja Tió, which we’re going to refer to as “Poop Log” in order to avoid offending any delicate sensibilities. Feel free to fill in the appropriate four-letter word as needed.

Tio de Nadal

Originally a simple rough-hewn piece of wood, the tió’s appearance has been upgraded in recent years. Modern iterations stand on two or even four stick legs, have a smiling face painted on the upper end and often sport a red hat.

Beginning on December 8th to coincide with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, children must “feed” the tió bits of fruits, nuts and water, draping it in a blanket to keep it warm, in the hope that their care will awaken its spirit of generosity so it will poop out many gifts on Christmas Day.

The children’s kindness ends there. They must go into another room to pray for the poop log to deliver lots of goodies while the adults surreptitiously place gifts under the blanket. (We’re assuming the log doesn’t have magical powers.) Then the children reenter and beat on the log with sticks to make it defecate while they sing various versions of the Caga Tió song.

“Caga tió, caga torró,
avellanes i mató,
si no cagues bé
et daré un cop de bastó.
caga tió!”

S***, log, s*** nougats,
hazelnuts and mató cheese,
if you don’t s*** well,
I’ll hit you with a stick,
s*** log!

After each verse, a child reaches under the blanket and takes a gift. After opening it, the song begins again. The tió gives candies, nuts and dried fruits; larger items are believed to be delivered but the Three Wise Men. (Duh!) The log drops a herring, head of garlic or onion to indicate there is no more poop to be had. (That part may be magic. We’re not sure of logistics involved.) At that point, the beatings cease and the tió is thrown into the fire and burned.

You can’t make this s*** up.

Copyright 2016 Worldwide Weird Holidays

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