Happy Halloween, Merry Christmas and joyful Lumpy Rug Day. We didn't make that up. Lumpy Rug Day is celebrated every May 3, though "celebrated" might be too strong a word.

It's the American way to create a celebration for everything, then turn it into a chore or worse, a nightmare. 'Tis the Season to Feel Inadequate is a collection of humorous essays about holidays, special occasions and other times our celebrations make us feel not-so-celebratory. It's understanding for those who think Christmas form letters can be honest-or they can be interesting. And it's empathy for anyone who's ever gotten poison ivy on Naked Hiking Day or eaten all their Halloween candy and had to hand out instant oatmeal packets to their trick-or-treaters.

As a syndicated humor columnist, Dorothy Rosby has been lampooning our celebrations in publications across the West and Midwest for more than twenty years. Join her in celebrating National Bicarbonate of Soda Day December 30-in case Christmas gives you indigestion.
Hey wait! Aren't celebrations supposed to be fun?

What a year it was! You started it off by writing your New Year's resolutions down because you thought you'd be more likely to keep them if they were on paper. And it worked-until January 3. You spent Valentine's Day taking down your Christmas tree. And on Halloween you had to hand out instant oatmeal packets to your trick-or-treaters because you ate all the candy you bought for them. Your oven quit working two days before Thanksgiving. And in December, you were the only one in a twelve-block radius who didn't light up your house like Las Vegas. But that's only because you couldn't remember where you put the lights after you fell off the ladder last year.

Wait just a darn minute! Aren't celebrations supposed to be fun?

'Tis the Season to Feel Inadequate: Holidays, Special Occasions and Other Times Our Celebrations Get Out of Hand is empathy for those who let unrealistic expectations suck the joy out of holidays and other special occasions. It's permission to give yourself some grace when the next one rolls around. And it's a gentle reminder that celebrations should be fun. Also that oatmeal is good for children.