As a kid, I was always fascinated by the fact that I got to celebrate the beginning of a new year 3 times–for the start of the school year, for the Jewish holidays and in January. 3 clean slates of sorts, 3 chances for do-overs, 3 new beginnings…kind of nice, actually.
As a parent, amidst the nice newness, I get to cook and make sure that my kids are presentable for the holidays, get my son's stuff in order for preschool (and deal with the looooong separation process), and try to figure out how to keep everybody busy during Winter break. Still nice, but infinitely more complicated.