Holidays 2025

The holidays arrived faster than lightening and exited just as quickly. It seems that life overall is like that these days. The best part of 2025’s holiday season was that Amara got to come home for an extended period of time. The girls had quality time together and we got to spend precious time with extended family and family of choice.

Keeping with tradition, I got the girls one larger Hanukkah gift instead of 8 nights of gifts. We really do not need anything and buying gifts for the sake of buying gifts feels like glutinous and wasteful. Instead, I opted to buy tickets for Cirque de Soil. A social outing together, that was both entertaining and inspiring proved to be the best gift of all. We had a lovely time, made great memories and enjoyed our time as a family. Our family dynamics may be a bit unconventional these days but it works for us and sharing special occasions like this is something that we all appreciate. 

We had a quiet and relaxed Christmas morning. Similar to last year, where the pace of gift opening was slowed down to first gear allowed us to relish in the thoughtful items we took our time with the morning. The girls slept it and then took time by the tree that felt peaceful and mindful. We did end up getting each other gifts but unlike the Christmas days of their younger years, we scaled back significantly (again do we really need so much? No.)

One of the best moments of the morning was watching Rio and Jaxx, our newest feline, have the time of their lives with boxes and paper. 

We had some meaningful visits with friends (chosen family) and our bio family. The times together make soothe my heart when I see the girls deepen their bonds with those they love. As they get older, I hope that these relationships continue to grow. For myself, who honestly does not care much for it all, takes comfort in these type of encounters and exchanges for it is the heart to heart moments that really matter most.

I am glad the holidays are now long over. The darkest days of winter gone and the days are getting lighter again but I am grateful that I have these memories with my not too small (age wise) gems.