Labor Day was established as an official holiday in 1887, in recognition and celebration of the American labor movement.  I hate to say it, but in 2013 this holiday holds little meaning (for me).  It’s not that I don’t honor our nation’s history, or that I’m not equally thrilled my husband had a day off from work and my kids from school.  But growing up in suburban Massachusetts, this holiday was a clear demarcation of the end of summer/beginning of fall.  It was our last opportunity to celebrate vacation (the absence of labor) since school typically began the next day.  Now in suburban Northern California, with school and kids’ activities already in full swing, today’s holiday was just another long (4-day) weekend lumped together with a day off for staff development on Friday.

Due to several laborious commitments (my marathon training, CMB’s half-Ironman training, our son’s football game) we were not able to take an out of town holiday together.  But my family did find ourselves free of any significant responsibilities for today.  I was able to take a 5 mile run with my man once he returned from cycling, our kids happily immersed in noneducational iPad applications.  Because I patiently waited to head out until CMB returned, we ended up logging our miles in the late morning heat.  The first run back after a push in mileage is always challenging.  It takes me at least a mile to find my legs and settle in to a satisfying rhythm.  We were quite a pair plodding along under the blazing sun, me struggling to come back from Saturday’s 19-miler and CMB finishing up his third consecutive day of brick workouts.  But together we powered through, planning a day of family fun along the way.

Our wonderful children (ages 13 and 10) have been asserting their will for years, as they should.  However it is of note that as of late, in a contest of stubbornness, the cards are stacked against us adults.  Our bundles of joy would have no part in our sweatily orchestrated plan to hit the pool for one last end of summer hurrah.  No amount of cajoling (or bribery) could convince them that our idea was as excellent as we believed it to be.  So we did what any reasonable parents would- we caved.  The four of us climbed in to the jeep for a hair-tousling ride out to lunch- the kids’ one concession was we could sit outdoors where we could hear the live music.  We then stimulated the economy with a little shopping, while celebrating all those hard at work who were not fortunate enough to enjoy a day off with their families.