If you look over our list of holidays for May, you’re going to see hundreds upon hundreds of them. So many holidays, in fact, that it may seem daunting to try to figure out which ones people should focus their attention on. Sure, we guess that people could celebrate every single May holiday, but that would mean they are spending every day of the month observing several different holidays.

Who has time for that? We certainly don’t, and that’s why we’ve decided to write a blog post on the subject. This is a post that tells everyone just what holidays they should focus on. We think that the following 10 Holidays For May That Shouldn’t Be Missed is a great guide for anyone looking to navigate the holidays of this month.

May Day

We’re going to start off by talking about May Day. This is a holiday that’s celebrated on May 1st, and it’s a European festival of pagan origins. It’s a day when a maypole is set up, green branches and wildflowers are gathered, and floral garlands are created. People then dance around the Maypole. It’s a day that celebrates spring and youth and is even used by some cultures to ward off evil spirits!

Cinco de Mayo

Observed annually on May 5th (after all, Cinco de Mayo literally means “5th of May”), this holiday is celebrated in the United States and Mexico. Although some people mistakenly think that this holiday celebrates Mexican Independence, it actually commemorates the Mexican army’s victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War in 1862.

Oh well, what makes this holiday special to us are the bowls of endless chips and salsa, the chance to enjoy hot pork chimichangas, and a delicious Margarita with an extra triple sec. Yum!

Mother’s Day

Sure, people can choose to ignore this holiday, but they do so at their own peril. If they’re a child, it’s practically expected that they make their mother a Mother’s Day card in class. However, adult children aren’t given a reprieve from this holiday. They too are expected to at least give their mother a call. If they don’t, then they can expect to be guilt-tripped for the rest of the year. That’s why this second Sunday in May is so important.

Memorial Day

It seems like common sense that every American would take the time to observe the last Monday in May as Memorial Day. After all, hundreds of thousands of service members have died while serving in the U.S. military. The least we can do is celebrate their service by attending graves, ceremonies, and parades that honor them.

And then afterward, we can all enjoy the barbecues and picnics that make up the rest of the day. Most people are more than happy to pay homage to fallen soldiers, and then head out to enjoy a BBQ pork steak and a beer.

Victoria Day

You didn’t think that we’d leave our friends to the North out of our discussion of the May holidays, did you? Of course not. We knew that we’d have to at least cover one May holiday that’s observed specifically in Canada, so we opted for this holiday.

Also known as May 24th, Empire Day, Commonwealth Day, or simply as the Queen’s Birthday, this holiday is celebrated in most provinces – except for Quebec. It’s a day for Canadian nationalism, spring, and nature. Who doesn’t love that combination?

National Teacher Appreciation Day

If you’re not homeschooling your children, then you most likely depend on teachers to educate your children with everything they need to know about history, math, science, and a host of other subjects. Teachers work hard all year round, so maybe we should celebrate their efforts with National Teacher Appreciation Day, or maybe even National Teacher Appreciation Week. It sure beats leaving a Red Delicious apple on their desk, don’t you think?

National Nurses Day

Since we’ve already celebrated mothers, soldiers, and teachers during our little holiday discussion today, we might as well pay homage to another group of people who really don’t receive the appreciation they deserve: nurses. These professionals keep us healthy, and sometimes literally save our lives, yet they get so little appreciation.

Let’s change that by observing National Nurses Day on May 6th. And while we’re celebrating nurses, we can also celebrate National School Nurse Day (May 3rd) and National Nurses Week. Oh, and let’s not forget International Nurses Day.

National Missing Children’s Day

In the United States, over 460,000 children are reported missing every year, and many of these children are never seen again. This is a horrifying statistic that highlights the reason why we chose National Missing Children’s Day on May 25th as one of the most important holidays of this month.

It’s the duty of all of us to take the time to observe this holiday and help to bring some of those children home. After all, a holiday doesn’t just have to be a celebration; it can also be an effective tool for change.

Pentecost / Whit Sunday

Sure, we understand that not every person is religious, and not every religious person is a Christian, so including this holiday might surprise and confuse some people. We thought that might be the case but decided to include it anyway.

This is a holiday that’s celebrated by millions of Christians around the world. There are an estimated 2.4 billion Christians around the world, and a not insignificant number of them celebrate this holiday, so we included it on our list.

International Day of Families

We think that we’re going to end our little blog today with a discussion of International Day of Families. This is a holiday that’s been observed on May 15th since 1994 and has a very important purpose. It’s a holiday that celebrates family and the importance of family in everyone’s life.

This not only includes the family that we are related to by blood but also the family we choose along the way. Every year, there’s a theme that helps to draw a finer point on the importance of family. That’s why we think that this holiday is worth celebrating every year.

In Conclusion…

Okay, whenever we do one of these holiday posts about the most important holidays of the month, we know that we’re going to get our fair share of flak. Inevitably, people will wonder why we included one holiday over another, or why we didn’t include a holiday that someone else thinks is important.

We knew that was going to be the case heading into this post. And that’s okay; we accept it. We just want to say that these holidays are the ones that we consider to be important at the moment. As time goes by, our lists may change and include other holidays.

We guess that’s just the long way of saying that we’re aware that we didn’t include certain holidays, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t important to us or to the world in general. It just means that they aren’t on this particular list but are quite likely to end up on another list sometime in the near future. Now with that said, everyone should go out there and enjoy the May holidays that they enjoy.