The 2014 Holiday Season

The holidays were a whirlwind this year, I am a bit amazed they are already over! But at the same time, it feels like we’ve been celebrating forever. We were packed to the brim with activities and family until about December 29th, and since then I’ve been cocooned in my PJs refusing to leave my house except for food and to wear out the kids at the gym. Though I tried to keep the holiday as low key as I could, you could say it ended up a little hectic. I’m learning our whole family doesn’t operate as well under prolonged excitement, and maybe resistance is futile during the holidays, but I think next year I’m going to try and dial it down even more.

Surprising to no one, my favorite moments were definitely the quiet ones with my little family. Of course I loved spending time with our good friends and extended family, seeing their smiling faces is always a highlight, but the times that stick out to me are the simple ones. Watching movies on our couch pull out bed on New Years Eve, opening gifts on Christmas morning, sleeping in with no alarm to wake us, making dinner for my family and laying around reading all the books we received. Those are the moments I cherish and hold on to as we head in to this New Year.

Tomorrow (and the next day) my kids go back to school, and it will be much needed return to routine. While everyone has enjoyed our break, we are ready for schedules and predictable daily expectations. The kids have missed their friends and their activities, and while I sometimes complain about our busy, little life, I know we all thrive on it. We like our lives to be full to the brim, sometimes overflowing, just as much as we like taking two-week breaks from it all. I suppose that’s how it works. The breaks wouldn’t feel like breaks without something to take a break from. And, I have to say, it’s pretty wonderful to be excited for what awaits in the real world when your break is through. That’s how I know, for now, we’re doing it right.