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Diwali 2020

November 30, 2020 No Comments

I have been meaning to sit down and share these pictures we clicked on the morning of Diwali, but life has been crazy these last few months and by the time I sit down at night, I am fast asleep by the time before the time even the laptop powers on. And then my site has been having issues last few months, I just havent been able to spend the time to fix it.

This year due to Covid, we weren’t able to do things that we do usually, see all our friends, have big get-togethers, host a 100 people over at our place for a Diwali party like we’ve done for over decade. But that dint stop us from celebrating the spirit of the festival. We found ways to show our love. Until we are able to see our friends and family in person the day was inundated with video calls. A box filled with festive goodies on the doorstep, a box filled with love from across the world, a recorded message on the phone.

The week before Diwali, mom sent a big box filled with goodies from India. Home made sweets, all the nashta (snacks) that is an integral part of the Diwali, decorations and diyas, clothes and books and what not. The cutest part was my dad also sent masks for the three of us, his way of ensuring we are being safe. Out of everything in the box, Zoe was most excited about the green hairties – the color green and hairties both things she is obsessed about right now.

This festival celebrates the victory of light over darkness and I have been feeling the light every single moment throughout the season of Diwali. This year while taking us by surprise has really made me be grateful for everything that we have. With that feeling, celebrating the festival has had a whole different meaning. I am appreciating the little and big things that we are able to do. Like two weeks before Diwali, on Dussera day we went to mandir. The fact that we have the option to go to the temple and feel safe there, to see Zoe’s eyes light up and be able to teach her about our rituals is a blessing. A few week before that, we celebrated Karwachauth. Karwachauth was definitely different than how we’ve celebrated in the past, but it was just us and that felt really good too. We dressed up for a few min, did the puja and changed quickly into PJs, put Zoe in bed and broke my fast over takeout and TV. Zoe kept saying – happy birthday puja. haha. How amazing is that as well – my heart was so full with being able to do that with my little family.

I love how the entire home feels like it is celebrating Diwali, with twinkling diyas and bright marigolds (my favorite flower), Zoe dancing around excited in her desi girl clothes. She has a newfound love for bangles and has been wearing the bangles that mom sent singing Bollywood songs – she knows how to tug this mama’s heartstrings.

I have always loved the little traditions that are part of our culture and now getting to do them all with Zoe is amazing. All the lights, the décor, the sweets, and the dance – these are the memories I am recreating from my childhood and creating our own.

Sending you all a lot of love for the entire festival season.

Decor pieces to shop –

Command strips to hold the decorations – smaller hooks for lightweight things and medium sized hooks to hang heavier decor pieces

marigold garlands , more garland options & some with prime delivery option

Door torans

Door toran with Amazon prime delivery

Rangoli decorations

Curtain lights ( used these hooks to put them on )

small kandils/lanterns, more here

Rangoli swirls and Happy Diwali banner

Diyas and Diya rangolis

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Zoe’ Outfit : Pippa and Julie Alice in Wonderland dress, Pediped mary-janes

Last week Zoe resumed her school, four months after the lockdown started. Getting to the decision of having her go back to school was a tough one. I’ve had many sleepless nights going over so many questions, reading numerous articles, talking to a lot of parents, even our doctor. Never in our wildest ideas had we thought that we would be in such a situation, where the entire world would be riddled with such a situation. Lockdown, quarantine, social distancing – these were words we had never encountered. And here we are, as parents taking decisions about whether your child should go to school or remain for another session at home. What about meeting so many people. Will kids wear masks? And how would office and house work be managed. Do online session even work for kids at this age ( less than 3 year olds ). And how do you keep a toddler away from their friends. How do you meet friends but ask kids to keep distance. SO many questions. Should we keep the children home one more session and see what happens. All valid and all tough ones.

After I shared last on social media that we were resuming school, there were numerous messages I received regarding the how, why, when, whats behind that decision. I completely get it – I spent four weeks, every minute of the the four weeks to get to that point. Knowing the state required measures and the school’s detailed plan was very helpful and that got us thinking about that we could explore going back to school. We had numerous questions and went over every detail, every measure in depth with the school administration. The other factor that we considered was that we have started meeting a few friends. Its a limited group – but that opens up the circle from what we were in the first three months – i.e. completely quarantined / socially isolated. I also spoke to our doctor and took his advice. Although this is not a medical decision – I wanted to get the thoughts of someone who I trust completely. His thoughts resonated with our thinking. Some families have resumed, it’s at half capacity than previously and it makes us so happy to see the kids having so much fun and being excited to be back.

This decision is different for each family. So many factors to consider. Every person has a different threshold for meeting people and everyone has a different situation. So it is a truly personal decision. Whatever decision you make – know that there are people doing this way or another way or a hybrid way. None of them are right or wrong. Just what works for each family.