Holiday Draws to a Close

“What we doin’ tomorrow?!?” asks child

In any other year, I wouldn’t necessarily advocate for spending the last two weeks of the year at home, sans childcare, away from family, with no indoor spaces to escape to. This year, however, I can say it was quite nice. We watched a bunch of movies (including both Paddington and Paddington 2—only one of which features Nicole Kidman and has been adapted into a serial bedtime story), drove around the five boroughs, made lasagna, and visited countless playgrounds. We watched as Kina grew up a little bit, and I got to do a lot of writing. I already miss it, this staycation, and I know I’m lucky to have had it.

I promised myself I wouldn’t get the Sunday Scaries yesterday, knowing full well that a lot of people didn’t get to go back to work today—I don’t get to be picky about my first day back at work this year. Kina dealt well with her case of the Mondays, too, playing “I’m busy on my computer” with her mother but otherwise being pretty mature and cool with Hannah’s arrival. She is still wondering what leisurely wonders await us after she wakes up, but I think she’s starting to grasp that what we had at the end of December was special and unusual. What I don’t think she understands is just how unusual this holiday was, and what an outlier it has been for all of us. I’m so glad we had this time together, I enjoyed it immensely, I’ll remember it for the rest of my life, and I hope we never have to do it again. Does that make sense? Does anything these days?

She went to school this morning. It was Stuffie Club day, and she brought Cloisters the Unicorn. She was happy to see her teachers. The year begins.

dad