A 2020 Christmas: Still merry

By Tonilyn Hornung

I’ve never been good at making predictions. I don’t know when to pack an umbrella. I’m not good at picking the Derby winner, and I definitely can’t tell when my 7-year-old will eat his vegetables at dinner. The good news is, there’s one event I can predict: the holidays. My holidays have played out in the same cozy way for decades. This year, however, it looks like even that’s changing. I couldn’t have predicted how the year 2020 would change everything, and I’m not sure how I’m supposed to roll with all this change.

It’s been my tradition to spend the holidays with my family. My parents, husband, grandmother, and I sit around the kitchen table watching my sister take her annual bite of pumpkin pie. We wait anxiously to see if this is the year she likes it. Nope. It’s not. My holiday has been this way for decades — but not this year. My sister, her husband, and toddler won’t be flying into town. My grandmother’s nursing home has closed its doors to visitors due to COVID-19 safety precautions. The holidays are changing.

Louisville resident Janet Buckman and her family are also on the road to revising their plans. “Usually we go to my sister’s, but this year it’s definitely changing.” For many years Janet has had a lively dinner with 25 to 30 family members, but all of her family is “doing a different thing this year.” Social distancing, staying in family pods, and making choices to keep older family members safe are all reasons plans are shifting.

The same holds true with Louisvillian Andrea Maddux O’Brien and her family. “Normally on Christmas Eve my husband, my kids, and I all go to my in-laws.” Andrea says it can be so crowded “that you don’t want to leave your seat because you might not get it back...it’s so funny.” Recently, she said, “I came to the realization that it’s not going to happen the way it normally does” because, even though it’s been a hard call, it has become crucial for them to incorporate social distancing practices into their holiday event.

As for me, with all the change in traditions, I don’t feel all that jolly. The consistency of my traditions grounds me in my childhood. I feel connected to beloved family members that have passed or even holidays long ago where the magic of the season was more present within me. What can I create that’s new that will still give me that same feeling of connection?

Janet is taking the connection she feels through her family’s recipes and adding that ingredient to her new tradition. “I’m going to cook for the three of us.” She decided to cook up all of their traditional dishes and her family will use the magic of technology to have a virtual meal together. “It’s the safe way to do it,” she says. Andrea’s family is planning to visit each other in shifts to limit the number of people and allow enough room for social distancing.

My family will be creating some new traditions. I plan on inundating my grandmother with too many handmade holiday cards, and I’m even going to try my hand at one of her famous recipes. This year, though, I’ll have to watch my sister take her annual bite of pumpkin pie via video chat. But who knows? Maybe it will finally be the year she likes it.

29 THINGS (Why 29? Because we are 29 years old!)

Happenings, news, and tidbits that caught Today’s Woman’s eye this month

By Anita Oldham

Since it is our 29th Birthday — we are going to indulge in some of covers in our recent past.

You can look at previous issues of our magazine online at TodaysWomanNow.com. 9.

by sharing your Today’s Woman story on our social media — look for posts on Facebook and stories on Instagram that you can share or email Editor@ TodaysMediaNow.com.

Six Questions with Bridget Benson, director and a teacher of Swallowtail Forest School at the Louisville Nature Center. This half-day preschool program offers 3, 4, and 5 year olds time outdoors exploring, in all kinds of weather.

louisvillenaturecenter.org/ forestschool

Forest preschools put a priority on unstructured outdoor play time, allowing children ample opportunity to build important life skills like resilience, riskassessment, and inquiry.

Currently we have the capacity for 10 children to attend each day. Since we have options for students to enroll 2, 3, or 5 days a week, 17 families are enrolled this semester.

We meet from 9am to 12pm. When everyone has arrived and put their backpacks away, we come together for a brief sharing circle, followed by free play and exploration in our nature playground. About half-way through the morning, we sit down for a snack and a story, then we get back to free play. Sometimes we will visit the garden, hike, or have an optional activity outside at this time. When it's almost time for pick-up, we have a closing circle where we talk about our day, followed by a story.

Free play! I love seeing what the kids get into. They may find a cool bug and build a home for it, open up a mud pie store, work together to dig out tunnels. Every day has its own exciting discoveries!

We hope to create an additional outdoor classroom space next year, so that we may have an additional class of students meeting at a time. We are also considering eventually offering full-day care so that forest school can be accessible to more families.

Children learn resilience and adaptability by playing outdoors in all weather — as long as they are dressed for the elements. They’re learning that a rainy day can still be a great day. They learn to properly assess risks when they climb trees and jump from stumps. Many children also show increased ability to focus on difficult tasks in nature, presumably due to its calming effects.

Bridget Benson is the director and a teacher of Swallowtail Forest School at the Louisville Nature Center.

Every month we feature local instagram accounts that caught our attention. You can also be highlighted on page 8 by using #TodaysWomanLove or #TodaysWomanShareIdeas.

11. @katieperridesign 12. @louisvillecommunitygrocery

13. @nouvellewine 14. @leather23 15. @theparklandsoffloydsfork

@blisshomefurniture @digshomeandgarden @magnolia_and_fig @baxterscorner @posh_home_lville

26.

Wilderness Louisville received a $5,000 award from the National Park Trust to support the Louisville ECHO program to engage approximately 300 fourth graders in partnership with Mammoth Cave National Park. Louisville ECHO’s mission is to improve equitable access to nature in Louisville by providing a continuum of outdoor opportunities for youth ages 3 to 21. Louisville ECHO works with local title one schools as well as Louisville Parks and Recreation community centers to provide outdoor education/recreation opportunities throughout the school year.

Go to the Frazier Museum — they are offering free memberships to anyone who lives in the Louisville area. Memberships last until October 31, 2021. Got to fraziermuseum.org/free to sign up and find information. Cool Kentucky, their new permanent exhibit, explores the history, culture, and iconic figures of Kentucky. Other exhibits include The Spirit of Kentucky® Bourbon Exhibit, What is a Vote Worth? Suffrage Then and Now, Celebrating the Sounds of Kentucky, The Lewis & Clark Experience, Border State: Kentucky and the Civil War, The Founder’s Gallery, and The Stewart Historic Miniatures Gallery.

28. We’d like to feature local artists in our March issue of Today’s Woman. Please nominate yourself or an artist you know who deserves to be recognized. Go to

Nominate.

ALL ABOUT THE DRESS Especially when it is almost 8 feet wide!

Jasna Pickett had Lilly Chodyniecki custom make her wedding dress with Jasna choosing every detail. “The fabric was ordered online from three different companies and every bead was hand placed by Lilly. She took my designs and brought my vision to life,” Jasna says. The process took 10 months, though COVID-19 slowed things down for fittings and design. Read more about Jasna and other local celebrations starting on page 68. Want yours to be featured? Send a message to Jill@TodaysMediaNow.com.