Thanksgiving is my very favorite holiday. There’s nothing more important to me than being with those I love. Our family tradition has been to hunker down at home for a few days of cooking, eating, playing games in front of the fire, watching movies, working through family dynamics, and just enjoying each other.

This Thanksgiving came and passed way too quickly for me, and I feel the need to find ways to continue to feel all the warmth and coziness of the holiday now that everyone has returned to their own lives. It feels particularly urgent in these rapidly changing and uncertain times. I want to wrap my family in a blanket, nesting them in the safety of my home forever. (As I write this I can see them rolling their eyes: “Really, Mom? 'Wrap us in a blanket?' That may be your fantasy, but it sounds like hell to us." I can’t help that I have that Mom Gene, on steroids.)

My world has, for better and for worse, been one with many changing and very rapidly moving parts. Within the madness, I’ve always worked to keep regimented, recognizable routines as a way of finding and giving my family stability, peace, and comfort. This past Thanksgiving, more than ever, I watched worries lessen as we gathered to cook recipes we’ve made for generations, used the same glasses and candlesticks we have for decades. So, my promise to myself and to my loved ones is to extend that blanket—even if only metaphorically. Extend it all the way through the New Year, and beyond. (Sorry, kids.)