2020 Holidays, Not a Complete Bummer

As the pandemic dragged on it was clear by November that we wouldn't be spending the holidays together. Disappointed yes, but we didn't let our lack of togetherness keep us from celebrating.  For Thanksgiving we had a smaller feast with everyone pitching in.  Linus made a vegan apple crumble while Mattias spatchcocked the turkey.

We are so lucky to have Alvin close by, his place is bigger than ours and he's traditionally hosted the family for Thanksgiving.  While it was just the six of us in San Francisco we managed to get all of the Mangosings together on Zoom.

For the long weekend we jetted off to Santa Cruz to stay out our favorite beachfront hotel, the Dream Inn.

The beach was nice but the waves were to flat for boogie boarding.  Alas the heated pool and bar called us, where the boys swam until late night.

The following day we wasted no time in jumping straight into the Christmas holiday, stopping at a Christmas tree farm on the way home. As usual there was plenty of debate and disagreement, but in the end everyone was happy with our tree (including the animals).

All of the isolation and fear gave me extra resolve to be overly industrious in my traditions. Instead of our traditional pepparkakorfest, I made cookie boxes with 7 different cookies.

This year's new additions to the cookie cutter collection were characters from the game "Among Us" and the Mandolorian (actually Boba Fet with the antenna cut off).

We thought it even more important to send everyone cards and make handmade gifts  to stay in touch and feel connected. Mattias was excited to master caramels with pecans and bourbon, while the boys made homemade marshmallows for cocoa and s'mores for the very first time.

The original plan for Christmas 2020 was a 2 week Karlsson-Mangosing trip to the Philippines. When it was obvious that plane travel was out of the question we organized a trip to Death Valley. And then everything shut down, even campsites. Our backup to the backup plan was stay-at-home (and that was an order). On Christmas Eve we made homemade tamales, creating a conveyer line to maximize efficiency.  They were so delicious we think we have a new tradition.  This year's flavors were jackfruit mole, chicken chile verde, and cheese/poblano.

In the evening we drove down to Los Gatos to meet with the grandparents and exchange gifts in a parking lot. (Large dog not included). Afterwards we drove in separate cars through the Festival of Lights, most of the way on speaker phone, so the grandparents could hear the delight and silliness of the boys.

It was a somber ride back up to San Francisco, where we opened gifts over Zoom.

Christmas day we enjoyed a small Julbord cooked and packed entirely by Kerstin.  We then spent the day playing all the new games we were gifted and relaxing.  Then in the evening we had a Karlsson family cocktail tutorial taught by Jonas.  He arranged for us to have recipes and cocktail kits ahead of time, and it was one of the highlights of the holiday.  Again, I think we found a new tradition.

So the 2020 holidays weren't a total bummer-- we wouldn't have chosen to spend them this way but we were creative and managed to create some special memories.
 

Mothers Day, My Way

Back in 2017 I eschewed the typical Mother's Day brunch and sweet (but unsuccessful) attempts from the boys to get me to relax.  I don't relax, and even if I tried, there is no escaping the every day duties of "momming" if I am around my family.  Instead, my idea was for the whole family to spend the day doing something that I wanted to do, irrespective of fun factor for the group.  I had no idea it would grow into a full blown tradition, but it  Mother's Day coinciding with the beginning of the cherry season it became my natural choice.

2019

2018 had a catastrophic late rain in early May that destroyed the early cherry crop. I was also studying for a board exam that left me devoid of motivation to do anything fun.  But by 2019 we were back at it and this time we brought Uncle Alvin with us!

2020

We were unsure of what COVID might do to our beloved tradition, but cherry picking turned out to be one of the safest things to do since it was outdoors and socially distant.  Here we are in our newly sewn face masks, and with the kids homeschooling we took ended up taking a weekday afternoon to beat the crowds. We look so happy in all the photos, you wouldn't guess that one of the most humiliating experiences of my parenting-life was about to happen.  As we exited the farm Linus spat cherry seeds rapid-fire style at his brothers, to the horror of me and everyone else who saw. At the time we knew that COVID spread through droplets and watching Linus generate spit along with projectiles literally made me want to die.  Motherhood does that sometimes I guess.

2021

This year the cherries came a little later but just in time for Mother's Day. No picture of me and the kids this year... we also came too early for the yellow Ranier variety.  I guess we have to go back later in the month :)

One difference this year is that Linus, approaching 13, lacked the same gusto for eating and picking fruit he had in years past.  It's one change that's made me nostalgic for the unfettered enthusiasm of childhood, and forced me to realize that while I will always care for them in some way, their childhood has a hard stop. What surprised me most was that despite our year of isolating together we didn't see the end of Linus' boyhood coming, yet it unfolded right in front of us. He's becoming his own person and our relationship has to change along with him.