I hereby start a petition in support of Boxing Day. According to Wikipedia, my current source for all things educational, Boxing Day dates back to the Middle Ages in England. It is a national holiday celebrated on Dec. 26 in the United Kingdom and many other former British colonies.

When I first heard of Boxing Day, I thought it involved the sport of boxing. I envisioned parents sending their children into the ring for a few rounds. The kids would fight it out to decide formal ownership over all Christmas gifts received with the expectation of being shared. Instead, the name Boxing Day stems from the tradition of giving gifts or Christmas Boxes to employees and people in a lower social class.

The holiday is still widely celebrated, but has evolved (some) over time. The holiday is now commonly a day to share gifts with the less fortunate, relax with family and friends, eat the leftovers from Christmas dinner, and go shopping at the year’s biggest sales. That is right, it is a holiday to give altruistically, relax, NOT cook, and go shopping. It sounds like it was made for moms.

Here in this blog, I am starting my petition to enact Boxing Day in the U.S. As a former British Colony, we have the heritage. I know plenty of generous people, so we have the altruism. If you had Christmas feast looked like ours, we have the leftovers. One look at the size of American malls, we have the shopping. All we need is an act of Congress to make it an official holiday.

While Boxing Day would be grand fun, I am not sure of my odds in making it an official holiday. I also must admit my motives for this petition are somewhat selfish. I have to work today. After all the celebration yesterday, I am itching for another day off. Whether you are in the office or enjoying a day at home, I hope you have a great day. Here’s to Boxing Day in 2009.

Gigi appears every Friday on TriangleMom2Mom. Read more about Gigi at her blog Stroller Lane.