Happy Presidents Day, or Presidents’ Day, or President’s Day?

Once upon a time, back in the Jurassic Period when I was in school, American schoolchildren enjoyed not one, but TWO February holidays.

There was Abraham Lincoln’s birthday on February 12th and George Washington’s on February 22nd.

But that was then and this is now.

Alas, there is but one federal holiday in February and no one is ever quite sure how it’s spelled:

Or is it Presidents’ Day?

Or President’s Day?

Or Presidents Day?

This is a parlor game that seems to arise every winter among pedantic grammarians.

Truth is, ALL of those spellings are incorrect. The holiday the feds celebrate today is George Washington’s Birthday.

Neither Congress nor the president have ever stipulated that the name of the holiday observed as Washington's Birthday be changed to Presidents' Day, according to the National Archives. So while the federal government calls it Washington's Birthday, in many states, it's recognized as Presidents' Day.

George has been assigned the third Monday in February to honor his birth (meaning it will never fall on our first president’s actual birthday) because of the Monday holiday law passed in 1968.

Some states call this some variation of Presidents Day. So what are we celebrating today in the Old Dominion?

While it may seem like the entire nation observes “Presidents' Day,” Virginia, Illinois, Iowa, Florida, and New York specifically recognize the third Monday in February as “Washington's Birthday” or “George Washington Day."

Some states, such as Virginia, celebrate Washington's birthday the entire month of February.

Sadly, for Virginia’s school children, they will not get the entire month of February off from school. Unless Ralph Northam is governor again - God forbid - and foolishly closes the schools for the better part of year for no good reason, thus thrusting Virginia’s kids into the bottom half of American learners.

But let’s not talk about this loser today. Happy birthday George!