Post Holidays Cheer
So the Holidays were a big hit for the kids. They got the big ticket gifts they wanted along with some other gifts from family. We celebrated both Hanukkah and Christmas so we lit the menorah for eight nights and had a decorated Christmas tree in the basement. We attended two Hanukkah parties. The first party was kosher dairy with bagels, lox and cream cheese, egg salad, potato latkes and broccoli soufflé. The second party was kosher meat with corned beef and rye bread, egg salad, potato salad, and potato latkes.
The first Hanukkah party we exchanged gifts and I purchased Amazon gift cards for everyone except the kids which I got fidget toys for my eldest and a Champion sweatshirt for my youngest. His new look is wearing sweatshirts every day either college themed or Champion brand. My eldest loves his fidget toys and even received additional fidgets from a cousin. Some of the fidget toys included magnetic plastic rings, a plastic peg slider cylinder, a squishy ball and another squishy ball with a bumpy texture.
We waited until Christmas morning for the kids to open their “big” gifts that they wanted. My eldest wanted the Nintendo Switch as his cousin had one and we were a little taken aback by the cost. We ended up buying the Nintendo Switch Lite for $200 and found over $200 in Target gift cards we had accumulated from past gifts to pay for it. He mainly wanted to play Mario Kart on the Nintendo and we downloaded the game Christmas morning. He has been thrilled with his new Nintendo and will probably be playing it all holiday break.
My youngest wanted a new desktop computer for his room. He’s been using the current desktop in his room mainly for “extracurricular” play such as researching history and current politics. We bought the computer over five years ago and it’s pretty slow loading websites. I could understand his need for a new computer. We found an all-in-one HP desktop with a 23 inch monitor for $529 on Amazon. He’s very happy now with his new computer.
I bought my husband a micro greens growing kit for Christmas as he is very conscientious of his diet lately and adding “superfoods” to his concoctions. He suggested the growing kit and they offered several on Amazon. After opening presents Christmas morning I decided to make a homemade tomato soup along with almond flour chocolate chip cookies. My husband and I had the tomato soup and the kids opted for takeout Starbucks breakfast sandwiches. Luckily Starbucks was open Christmas Day.
For our Christmas dinner I cooked Filet Mignon medallions from Trader Joe’s. I air fried them in the air fryer oven and cooked them just enough to be medium rare. I tried air frying filet mignon in the past and overcooked them. For dessert the kids had a Trader Joe’s chocolate sheet cake.
Being in Chicago, we got hit with the arctic blast the last few days and I did my shopping early in the week before the weather hit. Last Friday, the wind chill was -32 degrees and I didn’t leave the house until we went to the second Hanukkah party at my sister-in-law’s house. I was not up for going outside and we prepared by remotely starting the car to warm up. Even bundled up, the temp was excruciating and I was mainly concerned about the dogs going outside. They responded accordingly and would be waiting at the door soon after going potty.
Overall, we kept the holidays pretty low key without a lot of lights or activity. Many kids on the spectrum can be sensitive to all the ruckus of the holidays but both our parties were immediate family without a lot of noise or decor. Since the kids are in their late teens now, they don’t seem to show too much sensitivity to outside stimuli.
I hope everyone has a nice holiday break and not too much sensory overload. We are keeping the rest of the break schedule light with lots of time to decompress. Wishing everyone Happy Holidays!
