Dr. Benjamin Spock
(pediatrician)
born May 2, 1903
“Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.” – Dr. Spock
“There are only two things a child will share willingly; communicable diseases and his mother’s age.”
– Dr. Spock
“People have criticized me for seeming to step out of my professional role to become undignifiedly political. I’d say it was belated realization that day care, good schools, health insurance, and nuclear disarmament are even more important aspects of pediatrics than measles vaccine or vitamin D.”
– Dr. Spock
Teacher Appreciation Week – First week of May
“Teaching is not a lost art, but regard for it is a lost tradition.” – Jacques Barzun
“A teacher affects eternity; he (she) can never tell where his (her) influence stops.” – Henry Adams
“The best teachers are the ones that can change their minds.” – Terry Heick
“Teachers have three loves: love of learning, love of learners, and the love of bringing the first two loves together.” – Scott Hayden
“If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.” – Ignacio Estrada
Cinco de Mayo – May 5
“Freedom is when the people can speak, democracy is when the government listens.” – Alastair Farrugia
“Cinco de Mayo has come to represent a celebration of the contributions that Mexican Americans and all Hispanics have made to America.” – Joe Baca
National Pet Week
First week of May
“Animals are such agreeable friends they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.” – George Eliot
“It’s difficult to understand why people don’t realize that pets are gifts to mankind.” – Linda Blair
“Dogs are the leaders of the planet. If you see two life forms, one of them’s making a poop, the other one’s carrying it for him, who would you assume is in charge.”
– Jerry Seinfeld
Mother’s Day – May 9
“Any mother could perform the jobs of several air-traffic controllers with ease.” – Lisa Alther “Motherhood is the biggest gamble in the world. It is the glorious life force. It’s huge and scary – it’s an act of infinite optimism.”
– Gilda Radner
“The art of mothering is to teach the art of living to children.” – Elaine Heffner
“There is no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one.”
– Jill Churchill
“The phrase ’working mother’ is redundant.”
– Jane Sellman
International Nurse’s Day May 12
“Nurse: the first person you see after saying, ‘Hold my beer and watch this!’”
– Unknown
“When I heard 2020 was going to be the year of the nurse, this is not what I expected…” – Unknown
“Nurses are always there, you care for us from the earliest years. You look after us in our happiest and saddest times. And for many, you look after us and our families at the end of our lives. Your dedication and professionalism are awe-inspiring.”
–Duchess Kate Middleton
Visit Your Relatives Day May 18
“Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.” – Jane Howard
“At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child, or a parent.” – Barbara Bush
“The other night I ate at a real nice family restaurant. Every table had an argument going.” – George Carlin “A family is a unit composed not only of children but of men, women, an occasional animal, and the common cold.” – Ogden Nash
International Museum Day – May 18
“A visit to a museum is a search for beauty, truth, and meaning in our lives. Go to museums as often as you can.” – Maira Kalman
“If you don’t know history, then you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree.” – Michael Crichton
“A country that has few museums is both materially poor and spiritually poor … museums, like theatres and libraries, are a means to freedom.” – Wendy Beckett
Memorial Day – May 31
“Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.” – Adlai Stevenson
“Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.”
– Charles de Gaulle
“I believe our flag is more than just cloth and ink. It is a universally recognized symbol that stands for liberty, and freedom. It is the history of our nation, and it’s marked by the blood of those who died defending it.”
– John Thune