Holiday Re-cap, by Dr. Ayla Sitt

As the holiday season fades into memory, we find ourselves reflecting on the whirlwind of it all—the joy, the chaos, and the countless efforts to create something magical for our families. Whether it was untangling three miles of Christmas lights or realizing we were out of candles for the menorah (again), we spent weeks envisioning perfect moments: twinkling decorations, heartfelt traditions, and memories steeped in warmth. But let’s be real—somewhere between the 25th Amazon delivery and the third round of “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” we started to feel the exhaustion coming on strong.

While decorating cookies, spinning the dreidel, or frantically Googling “how to make the best crispy latkes,” our minds were already racing ahead to the next thing. Did the holiday cards arrive on time? Are the gifts thoughtful enough? Do you think my kids notice that our neighbors have more lights outside their house? Instead of savoring the laughter or the quiet glow of the candles, we were busy channeling our inner holiday critic. In our effort to create joy, we sometimes became the Grinch—or maybe the Maccabee Who Lost Their Chill—stealing the holiday spirit.

If we re-watched the holiday through the Vision of Holiday Past, the moments that truly stood out weren’t the picture-perfect ones. It was the unplanned hilarity—the time the children fought over who gets to light the menorah first (it can’t always go in age order, that’s not fair!), the cookies that came out resembling abstract art, or the socially questionable joke coming from the least expectant guest. These unscripted, chaotic, and totally imperfect moments are what make the season memorable. So maybe next year, instead of striving for flawless holidays, we’ll aim for something better: the kind of messy, joyful magic that can only happen when we let go of the pressure and just roll with it—burnt latkes, crooked trees, tantrums, and all.

Dr. Ayla Sitt