The Christmas holidays flew by in a whirlwind of twinkling sequined dresses and glittery nails (and that’s just my 4 year old, Florence) but seriously, it felt like the first time in months I’d taken a real break from the hamster wheel. I got to rest. A mum of three! Rest? Unheard of.
We spent a week in Berkshire (we used to live in Windsor) as I became godmother to my great friend Will and his wonderful wife, Anna’s beautiful baby boy, Kit, in a festive service in Wargrave.
And what proceeded was a chance to decompress in the slow (and admittedly spoilt) lane: room service, hotel dinners, swimming laps and retail therapy. Lush. Now it’s back to managing finances. Boring!
Oliver, my almost 16 year old (when did that happen?) enjoyed some rare one to one quality time with Daddy in London for the day, and one of my highlights was dinner a deux with my 13 year old, Alexander. It’s such a rare treat to spend quality time with the older kids in the same way I do with Florence who only attends pre school three days a week and it’s made me realise both my husband and I, Peter, need to schedule more time with each son before Oliver is at university and I’m weeping ugly tears during our FaceTimes.
Florence seemed to dramatically and shockingly mature during our trip and was for the most part, a modest, well behaved little human. The tantrums which dominated most of her threes appear to have dissipated (much like my pre Christmas stress). For now at least. I’m keeping everything crossed. Pray for me.
My mum, as usual, made Christmas Day utterly magical: the decorations, antique dinnerware, the Christmas tree adorned with velvet flowers and ribbons protecting the perfectly wrapped gifts for her grandchildren. Perfection. Is there anything better than regressing to your inner child in the house you grew up in, with your trio of children, rested, comfortable and content?!
Straight after Christmas and all that delicious rest inevitably led to us all taking it in turns being unwell. Rest does lower immunity right?! Fro, dastardly flu to tummy crunching stomach bugs and even strange side effects to new medication (!) it was no longer peaceful!
We are only now just getting back on our feet, to be honest.
I wish I’d had more time to see family and friends but after looking after everyone else, I hibernated hard, spending NYE and most of New Year’s Day in bed nursing my own bug. Argh. Thank goodness for feeling well again, and despite the biting cold, basking in the determined sun rays currently streaming through my lounge windows marking a new month and start.
On the way to pre-school this morning, Florence enquired where all of the Christmas lights which usually light up the trees lining the streets, had disappeared to.
“Everyone’s taken their decorations down now” I said.
“Christmas is over”, Florence sighed. She is so wise, that one. “I want the Christmas tree to stay up. I like the decorations”.
“But we have a new chapter that’s started now, a chance to try new things and welcome in the spring soon” I assured her.
She smiled back cheekily, excited.
So here we are: January. The next chapter (literally and figuratively as I start a new book) and more than time for me to start up new projects, commit to more focused, deep work with fewer distractions and making some dreams come true. Wishing you health, happiness and more career milestones you can muster!
Happy New Year!
Pre-order my debut children’s book
Greek Myths, Folktales & Legends for 9-12 year olds
Published by Scholastic. Available on Amazon
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