As hard as it is to believe, the holidays are just around the corner and 2021 is quickly coming to an end. Thanks to Covid, it was another year of uncertainties and changes at every turn. While I dislike all the changes and the “new way of life” Covid has brought to us as much as anyone, there are a few things that I’ve found myself enjoying.
One of those is the simplicity this season of life has taught us.
Pre-Covid, the months of October, November, and December were so jam packed that my family and I hardly had any downtime. Up until 2020, this was completely normal. While it wasn’t necessarily enjoyable, we didn’t think anything about it. Seeing every square on my calendar filled to the max didn’t make me think twice. Rewind to last year when all holiday activities were put on hold…it forced us to see the beauty in the simple things.
October 2020 rolled around and we only did two Halloween events. We went to Boo in the Zoo and we went trick-or-treating on Halloween night. We didn’t go to a single trunk-or-treat event, didn’t hit up every fall festival in town (because there weren’t any), and we didn’t go to any Halloween parties. You know what…that was one of our most enjoyable Halloween seasons we’ve had since we had kids. My children actually enjoyed trick-or-treating on Halloween night because they weren’t already burnt out on candy and their costumes. We had family nights watching movies and making treats, focusing on each other in our own home instead of running from event to event. Our Halloween plans this year look much the same as last year, and I’m so excited to celebrate with my little family.
The same can be said for the month of November 2020. We celebrated Thanksgiving with much smaller groups of family, and while we missed the ones who weren’t with us, the simplicity was so nice. We weren’t pulled in every direction to make sure we split our time equally. Covid also showed us how much we had to be thankful for in a tumultuous year.
When December 2020 rolled around, I’ll admit I had a harder time coming to terms with so many special traditions being cancelled. I always looked forward to church parties, work parties, family get-togethers, holiday attractions, and school events taking up most of our nights. I longed for the Christmas schedule we once knew. We were determined to make the best of it though, and sure enough, we had a magical Christmas season together. The extra downtime allowed us to focus on the true meaning of Christmas and on our family. We made new traditions and memories. I was afraid my children would be disappointed, but they were happy despite celebrating Christmas during a pandemic. This showed me that I didn’t need to put unnecessary pressure on myself to go, go, go during the holidays…my boys truly didn’t care if we weren’t doing something to celebrate every single day. We were able to relax and find the wonder of the season with a fresh, new outlook.
While the world definitely hasn’t returned to pre-Covid normal, I’m anxious for a sense of normalcy. If and when things do go back to the way they were in 2019, I definitely plan on keeping the simplicity in my family’s holiday season. If Covid has taught us anything, it’s that family is most important and that sometimes, less is more.
