I overheard them chatting as I sat in the control room running the teleprompter. Immediately, I ran out to the studio to inform them that President’s Day was almost as big as Christmas at my parent’s house.

As I began explaining just how elaborate the celebration was in our home, Bobby and Colleen dropped their jaws in disbelief.

My dad, a self-proclaimed history buff, believes everyone should know about America’s leaders and the sacrifices they’ve made for this country. Unfortunately, he can’t convince everyone in the United States to study our leaders, so instead he just makes sure his kids are experts on the matter.

Over dinner one night Dad began quizzing us. I believe I was in third grade...much too young to even have learned much about US government quite yet, when he realized none of his children, all under the age of 9, knew the answers to his questions. He became angry and announced this President's Day we would hold our first annual celebration. The children should come to the dinner table prepared to participate in a quiz. We were to memorize the faces of the presidents on currency. Whoever answered the most right, won all the money on the table…coins, bills and all. I immediately felt sorry for my two-year-old sister who didn't stand a chance.

It didn't stop after that President's Day though. It continued well into my college career and in many ways it got worse. The next year we were required to write a report on a contribution a certain assigned president had made to our society. After that, we were asked to dress up like our favorite president, which proved to be an extremely difficult task. The next year, we were served Cornish hens and other traditional presidential dinners. Art projects, speeches, and field trips followed.

Several years of humiliation took place when my classmates found out about this tradition. Each February around that time, one of my friends would mockingly ask me what my parents had planned for this year's celebration of presidential pompous in the United States.

When it came time to move away for college, I breathed a sigh of relief that I would not have to participate in the annual celebration. So imagine my disappointment when I received an e-mail one week before the holiday reminding me that the big day was just around the corner and I could submit my report on presidential foreign affairs anytime before midnight on President's Day.

I may have been teased growing up, but without our family celebrations how would I know that James Madison was the shortest president? Or that Buchanan was the only president who was never married? How would I know that Andrew Jackson was the first president to ever ride in a railroad train?

This President’s Day Dad sent us all a five-page article on Teddy Roosevelt’s success in building the Panama Canal. I wasn’t a big fan of this holiday growing up – mostly because I was teased by my fellow classmates -- but now I actually look forward to learning something new and impressing my coworkers with my presidential knowledge!

In honor of my Dad, I want to take today to encourage everyone to take a little time this President’s Day to learn something new about our nation’s leaders. You might be surprised at how interesting these men really were.

Do you or your family have any out-of-the-box holiday celebrations? Does your family dress up for President's Day like mine? Please share your holiday celebrations in the comments box below.