Every year the holidays fly by and I wish I’d taken better advantage of the time off, time with family and time out of our relentless routine.
And what with new year resolutions the theme of the season and goal setting and life coaching becoming the new rage, it’s only apt we consider how we can take advantage of the few remaining days left in the holiday before the kids go back to school.
Here are 5 simple things you can do to make going back to school/ work next week feel ok.
1. Call and visit friends/ family you haven’t seen in awhile.
Let’s face it, the relentless routine of school, after school activities and work can be gruelling and finding time on weekends to visit can be exhausting especially when you haven’t had time to clean, run errands or see your spouse all week.
Now is the time to call those you haven’t seen in a while and either go and visit or invite them over because the next time may have to wait until half term!
2. Get out of town!
For the same reasons above, your routine, lack of time, laziness… whatever, it gets harder and harder to leave the big city and go see or do something outside of your home town.
The fact is, there is a lot to see outside the city limits, you just need a car-or a train pass- and off you go! Longleat, Alton Towers, Peppa Pig World, or the Arboretum- these day trips are simple and easy to plan and let’s face it, the kids will love you! They’ll be occupied for the whole day and you and your partner may even have a good time as well!
3. Do those things you never get around to when school/ work begins again.
Get off the internet and go read a book, see the new Star Wars movie, cook a complicated meal, go for a hike or organise your storage closet- whatever it is, it’ll make you feel like you’ve done something enjoyable
while feeling like you’ve crossed something off your bucket list.
4. That brings me on to number 4. Clean up the house, do a spring clean or organise yourself.
We all (and I’m sure it’s not just me) say that when the holidays are over, we wish we’d have paused to just organise and plan for the weeks/months/ year ahead. The kids may need new dancing shoes, you may need to buy lunch meat for next week’s sandwiches, have you got all your tax receipts ahead of January 31st deadline, you’re sure you bought a present for little Johnny’s birthday next week, you just have to fish it out of the closet…. All of these things (if you can organise yourself ahead of time) will feel like a breeze if you’ve thought them through before hand.
5. Last but perhaps most important. Reflect.
Pray for the new year. Pray for your family. Pray for yourself. Take time out to meditate, reflect- whatever you call it to just be… and reflect on life and where you are going. You’ll feel more grounded but also and more importantly, you’ll go into the new year feeling good about yourself and the new year ahead. What you put into the world, is what you get back. Take the time to be positive and dream.
