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Editor’s Note
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A new cookbook is taking the magic of the holiday season up a notch. Chocolate Frogs, Cauldron Cakes, Treacle Tarts, Butterbeer… mere muggles can create these Harry Potter themed foods with “The Unofficial Hogwarts for the Holidays Cookbook.” Young Potter fans will be eager to hop into an apron and work their magic with a whisk, using step-by-step instructions and recreating scenes in their own kitchens. Available on Amazon.
2020 has taken a toll on everyone, including the beloved (or exasperating?) Elf on a Shelf. Pandemic elf ideas have already taken social media by storm, with that mischievous little doll getting into rubber gloves, hand sanitizer and the like. My favorite so far is from a blogger at passionforsavings.com, whose elf is quarantining in a mason jar for two weeks after arriving from the North Pole. Can you say genius?
editor’s note
A few months ago, to celebrate our wedding anniversary, my husband and I got all dressed up and wandered around the Dollar Store.
To be fair, we went to a nice dinner first. But once the steak was eaten and the bill was paid we found ourselves just not ready to go home. After all, we’d been cooped up with a three-year-old for the better part of a year.
The problem was, there was nothing else to do. Restaurants had only just reopened their doors, and most other venues were still shuttered in the pandemic. I nixed his idea of a moonlit walk because I was wearing heels for the first time in about six months. So a trip to the Dollar Store it was. We killed nearly an hour aimlessly perusing the shelves before heading out with a boatload of snacks and a Matchbox car for our son.
A few weeks later, we were telling a family friend about our bungled date night spent roaming the fluorescent-lit aisles of a discount store.
“That’s amazing!” our friend replied. “Just think, in 20 years, when the kids are grown and you’re at a fancy hotel celebrating your anniversary, you’ll think back and say, ‘remember that year we went to the Dollar Store?’ What a great memory that will be someday.”
The idea that our dud of an anniversary could one day be a treasured memory was something I hadn’t considered when I’d bemoaned the celebration COVID had robbed us of. But our friend was right -- the lens of time often offers a rosier view.
When it comes to 2020, there is plenty to lament. Closed down communities, virtual learning, job losses, racial strife, and missed milestones. With a new year peeking around the corner, I think most of us are more than eager to leave this one in the dust.
But when we look back on 2020, what else will we see? What stories will we tell? Of course, we won’t forget what we’ve lost, but what else will we remember? And how will it look from a distance?
I know every mom and dad out there needs about a six month break from kids after parenting through this pandemic. But for most of us, the shutdown offered the chance to slow down in at least some areas of our lives. Maybe that meant more togetherness, more family dinners, or a reprieve from the daily go-go-go. Maybe you actually sat down and did a puzzle with your kids, or got bikes and discovered a new passion.
If you’d have told me in March, when my office closed down and I had to find a way to work from home with spotty internet and a wild toddler, that one day I’d be nostalgic for these times, I’d scoff. But somehow, it all worked out. And now, with a new baby set to arrive next month, I’m grateful for these months of hunkering down with my son -- just the two of us. (And even more grateful for getting to wear sweatpants throughout my entire pregnancy, if I’m being honest.)
As 2021 inches closer and you look back on this year you’d probably like to forget, I hope your family finds a little something good to remember. If not, maybe you can spend New Year’s Eve at the Dollar Store.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
Amanda
We’re counting down to Christmas in my house not just for the arrival of Saint Nick, but also for Pixar’s new movie, “Soul.” Pre-pandemic, I’d promised my horn-loving 3-yearold his first trip to the “big movies” to see the jazzy animated flick. But this fall, Disney announced it would bypass the big screen and stream it on Disney+ Christmas Day. We’ve got the popcorn ready!
What’s the best thing about the age you are now? Who taught you to ride a bike? A new edition of Table Topics invites grandparents and grandchildren to get to know each other in new ways through personal stories and good conversation. What a great tradition to start during family dinners or weekly calls! Table Topics Grandparents & Grandkids (and plenty of other sets) available on Amazon.
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