GrammaLowe.com
Growing up, I always thought that the 12 days of Christmas began today, then continued until the last day, which fell on Christmas. Each day that grew closer provided a new gift, starting with a partridge in a pear tree and finishing with 12 drummers drumming. However, after a little research, I learned that I was terribly wrong and the 12 days of Christmas actually start on Christmas.
Apparently, the Twelfth Day of Christmas is 5 January, with the celebrations of Christmas traditionally ending on Twelfth Night and is followed by the Feast of the Epiphany on 6 January. In some traditions the first day of Epiphany and the twelfth day of Christmas overlap. And for those singing the song, this is how the 12 Days of Christmas breaks down:
- 12 drummers drumming
- 11 pipers piping
- 10 lords a leaping
- 9 ladies dancing
- 8 maids a milking
- 7 swans a swimming
- 6 geese a laying
- 5 GOLDEN RINGS
- 4 calling birds
- 3 french hens
- 2 turtle doves
- and a partridge in a pear tree
There is also a 12 Pains of Christmas which I find to be quite funny so this year, when you’re singing either song, know that the first day of Christmas is actually on Christmas. I guess that always made sense to everyone but me.
Onto our favorite money articles from the past week!
Five Fantastic Financial Christmas Gift Ideas for Children @ PT Money: Being brutally honest, kids and money do not mix well together, especially when thinking about Christmas. However, if you can maneuver it, teaching kids early enough is a great way to prepare them for future life and money lessons.
How To Get a Costco Membership At a Discount @ Moolanomy: Even though a Costco membership won’t cost you an arm and a leg, there are still ways to lower the cost each year.
10 Tax Tips for the End of the Year @ Christian PF: Tax season is quickly approaching and in just a few weeks, it’s time for everyone to start filing their W-2′s. This article lists some excellent tax tips.
Don’t Storm the Fortress to get a Job @ The Wisdom Journal: Being unemployed is a very stressful situation to work through but you won’t help easy anything with a head strong attitude.
What My Recent Tooth Extraction Taught Me About Money @ Five Cent Nickel: The only time I’ve had teeth extracted was wisdom teeth and all at the same time. I think the only thing they taught me about money was that dental surgeons live really well.
7 Savory Holiday Food Gifts @ Wise Bread: Most people don’t entertain the idea of giving food as a gift during the holidays but you can bet this is one gift idea that the receiver can’t return!
How To Get Your Kids to Eat Vegetables @ Main Street: God bless her heart, my mother tried to force feed me spinach at least once a week for my entire childhood but that stuff was just nasty. Even today, I refuse to eat spinach, which is strange because I love Popeye.
5 Ways to Help the Financially Challenged @ Cash Money Life: The obvious answer would be to just give them money, but that is only a temporary solution. A few great suggestions on how to help those in need, financially, are located within.
And this past week, we participated in the following carnivals:
- Wealth Builder Carnival
- Stock Carnival Ecstasy
- Carnival of Wealth
- Financial Independence Compilation
- Carnival of Taxes
- Best of Money Carnival
- Best of Credit Cards and Saving Money
Michael Pruser
Latest posts by Michael Pruser (see all)
- Track Your Finances with HelloWallet - January 30, 2012
- OptionsHouse Current Deals and Promotions - December 15, 2011
- Visa and MasterCard are not Finite Options for Rental Car Insurance - December 5, 2011
Published or updated May 23, 2011.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Hey Michael,
Thanks for that, I was just wondering myself about the 12 days of Christmas… like you I thought they started before Christmas!
Thanks for the round up too, I’ve got some reading to do