Winter Break Looked Different This Year

This was the winter break that was and wasn’t. The past couple weeks have been tumultuous for our house, as it has most of the world since Omicron has taken hold and seemingly everyone is sick. This household was no different. My husband brought something home the weekend before Christmas and we’ve been in various stages of illness (finally wrapping up). My husband and I both had 2 rapid tests, 1 PCR test and a trip to urgent care that all pointed to “unspecified viral infection”, but we still played things safe and tried not to spread our germs as much as possible this winter break. I ended up going back to urgent care since 10 days of rest and general idleness didn’t result in me feeling 100% (yay 10 hour wait!) to find out that perhaps what was an “unspecified viral infection” was probably a sinus infection in disguise (identified due to the onset of a massive headache).

All three of us were home for the majority of winter break and rarely left the house both out of an “abundance of caution” (another phrase I’m beginning to hate) and a chance to just rest and relax our minds and bodies after a tumultuous, stressful, challenging 2021.

Usually during this week, we do at least something fun and interesting but between the crazy weeklong misting rain and our general malaise the most interesting thing we’ve done is some clay art with Crayola air dry clay and not left the couch for hours at a time.

It hasn’t been the most productive week, I usually try and complete some minor cleaning and organizing projects that never seem to be important enough (like the hallway closet) to warrant using precious time during the work week to finish but this year, we coasted into 2022 in pajamas that we’ve worn for longer than I should probably admit to.

It’s been a liminal week of rest, relaxation, and zero expectations.

On one hand I feel like this was the winter break we all needed and on the other hand I feel completely disappointed. It’s a strange space of wanting rest and wanting activity.

As someone who considers herself a “doer” it felt very weird to spend 7 hours playing a video game with the Mr. one day (perhaps a new record for me?). I’ve introduced the munchkin to “Dr. Oakley, Yukon Vet” on Disney+ and we’ve had more screen time than I prefer but it was all in the name of intentional rest during this in-between week where the world feels paused between the old and the new.

For the most part, unless you’re someone who might work in sales/financials, by the time Christmas rolls around the old year feels wrapped up. Nothing I do or say is really going to change the outcome for the year; whatever goals I’ve set for myself I’ve either completed long ago or at this point they aren’t going to be finished in a week (and that’s ok…). Generally, I’ve already come up with my goals for 2022 so I don’t really use this week for any goal setting or planning.

The new year hasn’t quite officially started yet so it’s not REALLY time to start working on “crushing” goals (or gently eroding them) for 2022. It’s just a week that EXISTS in the calendar for me from the standpoint of accomplishing anything.

This year it existed to be a week of familial solitude and I’m not angry about it.

Usually when I am stuck in the house too long I get really antsy and feel the need to get out but this time around I enjoyed 10 days where I maybe left the house for 3–5 hours total (besides waiting at urgent care). I guess the past 22 months has finally gotten me comfortable with my buried homebody, introvert (now if we can just get the munchkin there without technology, that would be super helpful).

I honestly didn’t know that was possible but over the course of 2021 I worked to craft a physical space that I was happy with and that allowed me to do the things that I wanted to and needed to do.

2022 is already starting off with a bang so it’ll be interesting to see where it goes from here (it can only go up…right?) but I’ve learned quite a few lessons in 2021 that I think will really help me weather whatever storm we’re still sailing through in 2022.