Ah, Labor Day! The one holiday that I can never explain to my children when they ask what it is for. Not because it is NSFW, but because I have no idea. I mean, I know it is a day for the “working man,” and that unions are involved somehow, but aside from that my best answer is always “It’s just nice to give people an extra day off.” And then I have to tell them that “going into labor” and “going into Labor Day weekend” are not the same thing.
You know, this whole Labor Day thing makes me think of Mother’s Day (not just because of “labor”) and Father’s Day, because those are two other days that we set aside to celebrate the people who work the hardest for us. The only difference is, sometimes we are given a hard time about needing a break from those duties. Remember how being a mother is, according to some terrible commercials, the “hardest job in the world?” And yet it is a job that we are required to love. The simple act of saying “I need a break” can often bring about cries of bad parenting. Shouldn’t you be constantly rewarded and fulfilled, you evil neanderthals?!
Since everyone agrees, by virtue of Labor Day existing, that workers need a break, and everyone also agrees, by virtue of corporate marketing, that parenting is the most work anyone can ever do, let us try to remember next year when Mother’s Day and Father’s Day come around, that it’s okay for Mom to spend Mother’s Day on the golf course, and it’s fine for Dad to take off for the day and get a massage. They need a break, just like any other employee. In fact, they probably need it more.