Today’s Official Mood: Llama

If today feels slightly more chaotic than usual, that’s because the calendar has quietly stacked the deck with three offbeat holidays that perfectly capture the American experience: indulgence, nostalgia, and mild emotional intimidation by farm animals.

Today we celebrate National Pastry Day, National Christmas Card Day, and National Llama Day — a trio that somehow explains breakfast, guilt, and social behavior in one fell swoop. Let’s unpack.

Butter Makes Everything Better (National Pastry Day)

National Pastry Day is the only holiday that understands us.

This is not about moderation. This is not about “a small bite.” This is about honoring the miracle created when someone decided flour wasn’t nearly indulgent enough on its own and introduced butter into the equation — repeatedly, aggressively, and without apology.

Croissants. Danishes. Cinnamon rolls pretending they’re breakfast. Toaster pastries that almost certainly don’t qualify as food anywhere else on Earth. Today, all are justified. Calories do not count on National Pastry Day because the holiday’s entire purpose is emotional stability through laminated dough.

If you eat a pastry standing over the kitchen sink, it still counts. If you buy one “for later” and eat it in the parking lot, you’re participating in the holiday spirit. And if you say, “I’ll just have half,” Georgia Dale would like you to lie to someone else.

The Gentle Guilt of Christmas Cards (National Christmas Card Day)

National Christmas Card Day marks the anniversary of the first commercial Christmas card sent in 1843 — which means people have been stressing about envelopes and return addresses for nearly two centuries.

This holiday exists solely to remind you that someone out there already sent theirs. Probably with a photo shoot. Possibly coordinated outfits. Definitely better handwriting.

Christmas cards are polite pressure in paper form. They quietly say, “We are organized, festive, and thriving,” even when the sender absolutely yelled at everyone fifteen minutes before the photo was taken.

If your cards are still sitting in a box from last year, unopened and accusing, today is their official day to judge you. And if you’ve decided that posting on social media “counts,” congratulations — you’ve embraced the modern loophole approach to tradition.

Bless the people who still write notes inside. Bless the people who remember stamps exist. And bless those who sent cards early enough that you briefly panic and consider reciprocating.

The Llama Is Watching (National Llama Day)

Then there’s National Llama Day, which feels less like a celebration and more like a warning.

Llamas are fluffy, photogenic, and eternally unimpressed. They have the energy of someone who knows your weaknesses and has decided to tolerate you anyway. They stare. They judge. They occasionally spit — not out of malice, but out of principle.

Why do llamas get a holiday? Because America loves animals that mind their own business while somehow making everyone else uncomfortable. Also, because no one has ever looked at a llama and thought, “Yes, that animal enjoys chaos.” Llamas have boundaries.

On this day, we celebrate their quiet strength, their meme-worthy expressions, and their refusal to pretend they’re excited about anything you’re excited about. In other words, llamas are the spirit animal of December.

Three Holidays, One Mood

Put them together and today’s offbeat observances make perfect sense.

Pastries say, “You deserve this.”
Christmas cards say, “You’re behind, but it’s fine.”
Llamas say, “I see what you’re doing, and I’m not impressed.”

It’s a full emotional arc before lunch.

So eat the pastry. Ignore the card stack for one more day. And channel your inner llama — calm, unbothered, and quietly superior — as the holidays ramp up and common sense temporarily disappears.

Bless your observances.