Even by our new Wisconsin standards, this was a pretty quiet Thanksgiving. With an order in effect precluding gatherings of people who live in different households, it was just the 4 of us here for the big day itself. I did cook a bunch of things and packed up a to-go bag for Nona and Opa, so we all ate the same things, albeit not at the same time nor in the same place. Other than that, we pretty much laid low--went to a couple of parks, watched movies, played games, read books, etc. Lemon (Lemon!!) seems to have picked up his father's taste for chess, so they played many games of that over the weekend. Both kids also developed a renewed interest in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the theme song of which I can still sing from memory from when my brother loved them decades ago.
On Thanksgiving day itself we did a Zoom toast with all of my far-flung cousins, aunts, and uncles, which was a treat. I haven't seen any of them in person in a couple of years, and it was great to have a little taste of our old family Thanksgivings back in Boston, when all of us would descend on the home of one of my aunts and uncles and pack it to the gills with people, food, conversation, and laughter. After all this time away from other people, it was good inspiration to plan that long-discussed family reunion, once these COVID times are behind us.
Now we're getting back in the swing of things with our little learning pod, which continues to feel like pretty much the best idea ever (even if indoor recesses do make my "office" a bit rowdier than the average workplace). I am impressed with how much the kids are learning, even in this unconventional format. Both kids have made so much progress on their reading and writing since school started. And Lime now has loose teeth. When did they get so grown up?
Now it feels like we enter a new period of waiting. Waiting to see what the Thanksgiving holiday has done in terms of increasing the spread of COVID all around us, waiting for Christmas, waiting for the adult vaccine to become available, waiting for the pediatric vaccine trials to get going. Waiting for 2021 and all that it might hold for us. Hang in there, everyone!
