Life as a working mom is busy. I feel like my schedule is always to the minute, jam-packed with one thing after the next from sunrise until sunset. It’s a constant rush – to work, to childcare pickup, to dinner, to bed. The days go by so fast that I barely have time to process them, and before I know it another month has gone by.
That’s working mom life – we get so wrapped up with our day-to-day routines that we just… lose track of time.
It’s easy for holidays and other important dates to sneak up on us, leaving us scrambling to prepare something at the last minute.
I really struggled with this as a new mom. I felt like I was always trying to catch up and stay afloat, never feeling prepared and always rushing. Sometimes I would just miss things entirely.
I felt constantly behind, and that feeling really added to the stress of juggling new motherhood and my career.
At some point, I got tired of that feeling and decided plan my calendar in advance for the entire year.
What a difference that has made.
Now, I feel like I’m actually on top of things for the most part.
It helps me to anticipate when I might be expecting to take PTO, when I’ll need to start looking for hotels and booking rentals for vacations, when I’ll have to start catering orders, and when I’ll need to start shopping for birthday party essentials.
It also helps me to avoid starting new projects or putting more on my work plate when things might be a bit busier.
It’s really made life feel much smoother and more manageable.
Here are all the monthly observances I put on my calendar for the year, including holidays, national observances, seasonal celebrations, and days of interest for kids.
An important tip for planning ahead
Plan ahead for the year
It’s true taking some time to put all the important dates for the year into my calendar has helped me be so much more organized, but that’s actually only part of it.
The other essential piece is to use multiple reminders leading up to the day.
It could be anywhere from a couple weeks to several months before, depending on how much time I think I need to prepare.
I usually put 3 reminders on the calendar – one on the actual day, one the day before, and one 2-3 weeks before.
That way, I’m never caught off guard and have more than enough time to get things ready.
If it’s something that requires more intense planning, like a birthday party, I’ll set a reminder about 2-3 months in advance.
Doing that has made the difference between just putting things on a calendar and actually planning for them.
January
- 1: New Year’s Day
- 3rd Monday in January: MLK Birthday
February
- 14: Valentine’s Day
March
- Mid-to-late March: Spring Break
- 17: Saint Patrick’s Day
- 20: First day of Spring
- Anytime between March 22 and April 25: Easter
May
- 1st full week in May: Teacher’s Appreciation Week
- 2nd Sunday in May: Mother’s Day
- Last Monday in May: Memorial Day
- Summer break (late May or June)
June
- 19: Juneteenth
- 20/21/22: First day of Summer
- 3rd Sunday in June: Father’s Day
July
- 4: Independence Day
September
- 1st Monday in September: Labor Day
- 1st Sunday after Labor Day: Grandparents Day
- 22: First day of Fall
October
- 2nd Monday in October: Columbus Day
- 31: Halloween
November
- 11: Veteran’s Day
- 4th Thursday in November: Thanksgiving Day
December
- 21: First day of Winter
- 24: Christmas Eve
- 25: Christmas Day
- 31: New Year’s Eve
Other notable dates
- Personal vacations and time off
- Medical appointments
- Birthdays and anniversaries
- Daycare/ school holidays and closures
- Daycare/ school registrations and meetings
- Big extracurricular events (like sports games or recitals)
- School calendar events such as dress codes for special observances (like wearing pink for Valentine’s Day), and plans for seasonal activities (like splash days in the summer).
- Work deadlines and schedule changes
Working moms often have so much to keep track of that it’s easy to forget important dates until they’re already upon us.
Spending a little time planning a yearly calendar has made a huge difference when it comes to being prepared and avoiding last-minute rushing.
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