Wow. The holidays flew by! It didn’t always feel that way, but in hindsight, it was an awesome month. We were lucky to spend all of Yom tov with my grandfather, which was mostly the reason we went away.
Since we were away for all of the holidays, I was glad that Erev Rosh Hashana and Erev Sukkos were both on Sunday. It gave me plenty of time to put away laundry, pack and bathe the family.
Each time I had to pack I printed out my ultimate packing list. I made sure all the laundry was washed and put away so it was easy to find everything. The kids helped choose their clothing so packing was a real family affair.
Aside from the logistics, here’s a brief summary of what we did.
Rosh Hashana
It’s always a mad rush before every holiday, so I was really looking forward to that minute right after you light candles. It’s the minute I started relaxing and it was beautiful.
I was home with my kids while everyone was in shul, so I didn’t get much davening in, but we made it to shul in time to hear the shofar. The weather was nice, so we spent a lot of time outside.
Tzom Gedalia
Of course the boys had a 12:30pm dismissal, so I had to work from home… Yeshiva schedules are never easy for working parents.
Yom Kippur
Ds3… I love him so much but he woke up at 6:45am. We survived the day, but it was not spiritual for me. Being tired and hungry at the same time is never a good combination. Enough said.
Day After Yom Kippur
9:45am start at school. Luckily DH was able to take everyone while I returned to work for a day.
Sukkos
DH and I both took off the entire week. For Chol Hamoed we went to Lancaster, PA as we had done a few years ago. The weather wasn’t great, but we were able to do some fun activities as well as swimming… which I think was the kids favorite. We haven’t gone on vacation in a few years, so it was nice to get away.
Post Sukkos & Back to Work
Of course there was no school the day after Sukkos. So, my return to work was done at home while trying to occupy my kids. Again, an example of how Yeshiva schedules are hard for families with 2 working parents… see section on Tzom Gedalia and Day After Yom Kippur.
And now, back to regular life…
How was your Yom Tov?
Until next time,
Shaindy
