Holidays

Holidays are fun, wonderful things that bring people closer together and provide a break from our everyday lives. Unless you are 2. Then they are just exhausting. OK, I guess they are exhausting no matter what age you are; you're just better able to deal with it when you are 30 than when you are 2.

Ilya made it through about an hour of opening presents Solstice morning before she put her head down and told me she was tired. Tired! My daughter does not DO "tired." This is the child that took almost a year to sleep through the night. This is the child that, to this day, wakes up every night and comes upstairs to share her awakeness with the rest of us. This is the child who takes AT LEAST an hour to go to sleep for every nap and every bedtime. For her to freely admit that she is "tired" is such a rare moment. Like a butterfly landing on your shoulder: its so unbelievable and precious you don't know what to do.

The really crazy thing is, I KNEW it was going to be too much for her and I couldn't stop myself. I have such fond memories of glowing trees, baking cookies, littered wrapping as gifts are revealed. I wanted all that for Ilya. We had our dear friends Brendan and Stina (aka Uncle Brendan and Aunt Stina) over. Grandma Tutu, Uncle Hugo, Aunt Brandy, and Mana (aka Grandma Mel). I made pancakes and we opened presents.

Then - because that wasn't enough - I invited many more friends over for dinner. Such a fun day - full of friends, family, generosity, love and connection. I felt touched to have such wonderful people in my life. Ilya had a wonderful, exhausting time, and she did sleep well that night.