The Susan Sequel

I love to entertain. I’m not saying I’m good at it, but I love to have people over, hang out and play hostess. My brother-in-law once told me he thought I felt like I had to do everything like Martha Stewart, but that’s not it. I just find it fun, and even relaxing, to share my home with others. Luckily, my husband and kids seem to feel the same way (not that I give them too much of a choice in the matter). The holidays are always a crazy time for us and we tend to entertain a lot (some planned, some not so planned). We often joke that our house should have a revolving door like the ones that you find in hotels (and that I always manage to get stuck in). Regardless, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

When I was little, my family defined a friend as someone who could come into your home and take their shoes off without asking. I think this adage still holds true today; FYI, if you are ever invited to my home, you have carte blanche to take off your shoes at will. This is actually quite a compliment as I truly despise feet (especially Facebook posts of random feet at the beach). Just another one of my pet peeves but one I feel the need to reveal for no apparent reason.  This year, Hanukkah is a little quiet because Hannah isn’t home from school yet.  None-the-less, we lit the candles last night and gave Sam his first night gift (not without grief from Hannah because she felt left out). Since she will be home Monday night, we have decided that we will light all the candles again next week (because, why not). I’m pretty sure as long as I serve her some latkes and kugel, I could postpone the holiday until March and she wouldn’t complain (no Hannah, this isn’t a fat joke).

It’s hard to buy gifts for my kids now that they’re older. The saying bigger kids, bigger problems should really be adjusted to bigger kids, more expensive gifts. A lot of my friends no longer buy their kids gifts at all, probably for this reason. I think not doing so would make me sad (as well as cause a revolt in my household). I was raised getting a “big” gift on the first night of Hanukkah and getting seven smaller gifts each night thereafter. I made the mistake of doing the same for my kids and they love it, asking me to continue the tradition. Yes, feel free to call me a sucker but it makes me happy to see their pile of gifts on the counter each year (even though it’s harder and harder to get them stuff they want; PJs or anything practical are officially a no-no with them).

This past weekend, I was with Hannah in New York (and no, this wasn’t her “big” Hanukkah gift). She won free tickets to see Dear Evan Hansen and we met there for a girl’s weekend (she applied for the 1st Anniversary Fan Day and, miraculously, she was chosen in the lottery). It was freezing and amazing, all at the same time. And while I have decided that I could never live in the snow, I think it should be a mandatory exile for all pre-menopausal women (in fact, if I could just live in a lavish igloo on the Upper East Side, I might actually survive menopause). This weekend, we stayed in a new, boutique hotel that made me feel particularly old (Hannah loved it, enough said). There was no place to check in, the rooms had no closets and they rolled in a gourmet, candy cart at night (Frank would have hated the whole thing). We ate yummy food, saw amazing friends and shopped a lot (Frank hated that part too). And Dear Evan Hansen was everything I had heard it to be (now if she could only win tickets to Hamilton, my life would be complete).

Today, I worked at an annual holiday event at my son’s high school. Every year, the PTSA volunteers to wrap holiday gifts for those teachers that choose to them bring in (this is a massive undertaking). There is food, wrap, music and gifts galore (I will admit that I’m nosey; I like to look at the gifts and see what the teacher brought). Some people slap the wrap & bows on the gifts and some of the wrappers are hard-core with the decor (we’re talking Bloomingdale’s level gift wrapping). It’s a really fun event, but wrapping gifts for hours on end is absolutely exhausting (I was an assistant for a hard-core wrapper this year… stressful, but a long overdue promotion). In case you were wondering, my favorite gift this year was the tinker toy set that turned into a fort when completed (Sam would have LOVED this when he was little).  Two kids were getting this same gift and if I’m being totally honest, I was more than a little jealous.

The holidays always make me a little nostalgic. One of my personal, favorite Hanukkah memories is from 7th grade. We were at my Aunt & Uncle’s house (before they moved to California) and my parents gave me a phone as my “big” gift. Let me clarify… we aren’t talking about any ordinary phone: it was an aqua blue, slimline, push button phone with my very own phone number (for all you kids out there, pre-cell phone days, we tragically shared one land line with the entire family). To be honest, this was one of the best gifts I have ever received (at the very least, it was probably one of the most memorable). I loved that blue phone and used it religiously until I left for college (for the kids not understanding the magnitude of this gift, my own phone number meant I could have my very own phone in my very own room; hence, privacy). I won’t even address when we first got call waiting, but, suffice it to say, it was similarly momentous.

To all of you, may you each receive your own “blue phone” this year. Enjoy Hanukkah with your family & friends and hug those close to you. L’chayim!