Getting into a playful spirit

I don't know about you, but I'm having a hard time getting into a holiday mood. It's only just getting chilly here in Northern California, so the weather feels barely fallish, let alone wintery. And we are all absorbed in helping the student of the house wrap up her first semester of this new school-from-home situation and prepare for final exams. (Physics is traumatizing all of us around here, although we do joke about how we can now measure the speed of flight if Caroline hurls the physics text across the room.) For some reason, just keeping my head above the clutter of housework and daily business feels like plenty.

Yesterday, our neighbors across the street were out in force, blaring Christmas music through the neighborhood as they put out their vast assortment of holiday decorations. It should have added a fun and festive feeling, right? But I was annoyed at the blasting music outside when I'd hoped for a quiet morning, and I was feeling generally un-Christmasy, almost downright Scrooge-like.

I am determined to ease myself into a relaxed holiday mood. The tree will come up this week, I think, and once that is done I know I'll feel more Christmasy. But for now, to cheer ourselves, we did something that always helps: we went to the animal shelter to cuddle the cats. There is nothing that'll make you smile faster than seeing the butt-wiggly, pouncey cuteness of an energetic kitten.



They really know how to live in the moment, kittens do.



They can find fun in the simplest things.



And they can play while lying down or sitting still.



I feel much better now.