4 weeks of holidays to go - eeeek!



You must forgive me for not writing over the last few months. Sometimes life gets too busy and complicated, and when that happens, I find I cannot write anymore.

Have you been there, dear reader? At that point where you are so submerged in and by life and its complexities that you can't even find an outlet for your gifts? And yet, using your gifts is what essentially keeps you going, isn't it?

So here I am, dear reader. I have been stripped bare over the past few months, but here I am, and happy to be here.

What are you facing at the moment?
Are you in a happy place?
Are you in a worried place?
Are you in a sad place?
Are you in an "I don't want to feel anything anymore" place?

I'm in an anxious place.
My head knows that being anxious doesn't help:



But there it is, in its naked truth: I am anxious. I almost feel there should be an AA group for Anxious Anonymous. "Hello, my name is Ann and I'm an anxious person". Some of my anxieties are unidentifiable. It's this latent underlying feeling that usually rears its ugly head early in the mornings or late at night. The rest of the time, it rests pretty dormant, just occasionally popping out of its hole to remind me that it's still there.

Some of my anxieties, however, I can put my finger on. For example, right now, it's 4 more weeks of school holidays, with 2 kids at home, a husband working long hours, and no family around to help take off some of the load.

What am I going to do with them? Both Master 2 and Miss 5.5 are very energetic, highly interactive and extremely bright kids. Oh I have ideas of what we could do, and I always have a few ideas up my sleeve. But the hardest is the knowledge that I will not get much respite for that length of time. I've loved having a part time job outside the home. It keeps me balanced and able to give my kids the best of me when I am home. But at the moment I'm not in a position to do so very much. So while it makes me anxious, I also want to treasure the next few weeks. There will be beautiful moments. I know it.

So, I'm interested. What are your tips for surviving the long summer holidays? Please share!

I'll start:
- create some form of routine (because this works best for us);
- see friends;
- plan one non free activity per week;
- make things as fun as possible;
- stay relaxed;
- get the kids outside at least once a day;
- it's okay to put the TV on. Really, it is;
- involve the kids in baking etc;
- arrange at least 2 hours of ME TIME at the weekends - this always involves good coffee;
- plan some dates with my husband.

 

Kia kaha dear reader. Be strong. Keep cool.