The week before Christmas, I suffered a pile of technical difficulties. My gmail ran out of storage and stopped receiving messages. My new computer refused to accept my new Outlook account and my Zoom connections kept glitching. I tried making some new types of cookies, with mixed results.

There was an added complication: the weather and my ex’s work scheduled combined to result in James, my youngest son, missing three scheduled visits with his father. I am used to James being home most of the time, and while I love having him home more than less, I often rely on my James-free time to get writing done.

Christmas Eve came. I decided to drop my efforts at fancy and made red velvet cutout cookies with cake mix. Along with that, Santa’s plate had a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie and a chocolate meringue cookie that my older son Erick calls my “hot cocoa cookie.” My daughter was coming the day after Christmas and promised to help with my computer issues. I decided it was simply time to let it go and enjoy our being home for Christmas Eve and Christmas.

Sometimes taking a break is the best thing to do. Some time ago, my mother gave me the book “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff (and it’s all small stuff).” I couldn’t disagree more. I tend to worry a lot. But it does help sometimes to add a little longer term perspective to my problems.

Beyond that, working two jobs and being a single mother means life is often moving at a frantic pace. I try to compartmentalize each facet of my life, so I don’t let concerns from one thing enter another. But idle time sets my mind alight, and it can be difficult.

Taking a couple of days off was helpful. I realized we had a pretty wonderful Christmas season. James got to see Santa Claus more than once, and thanks to the Bethlehem Public Library, we have our annual photo with Santa. And though COVID curtailed some of our usual holiday plans, we were still able to enjoy the season. And having Erick home for all but a few hours of Christmas Eve, and all of Christmas, plus James being home for Christmas Eve and Christmas, plus having my daughter and her boyfriend over with us for a few hours the next day … priceless, and the best Christmas gift of all.