Is it still acceptable to say ‘happy new year’? When does that stop? Mid Jan? Anyway, happy 2024! (I accidentally wrote 2014 there, which made me realise that 2014 was TEN years ago. What the?!) Hope you had a lovely festive season. Are the dregs of your quality street still lingering around the house? Because same. Fellow parents – have you watched Tabby McTat eight million times? Because same.
You all know I love the new year reset; a chance to reflect on the last twelve months and think about what I want for the next. 2023 was a good year on the whole. The start of the year felt like a bit of a fresh start because Alfie started nursery and I went back to work after a year of maternity leave. It felt like we began to find a better balance between parenting and, well, everything else. My aim for the year was to invest more time into our relationship and into my wellbeing, and I really feel like I laid some solid foundations. Nothing was perfect of course, the first half of the year was still blighted by horrendous sleep deprivation, but I carved out more time to write, read, bake, exercise and I think apart from one month, we stuck to our resolution of monthly date nights. And as the year went on, the combination of these things and gaining more sleep, helped us feel more ourselves again. I also really, really enjoyed Alfie turning into a toddler. Every parent enjoys different stages but if you’re currently struggling a little in the baby stage and everyone is telling you that toddlers are nightmare, please be reassured that I would take the toddler any day. I mean, sure, they are mini dictators to an unreal level. But it’s been such joy seeing him slowly turn into a little person and being able to communicate more. He’s so funny, with the most expressive brown eyes and dance moves so bad they are good. Watching him go from two to three is one of the things I am looking forward to the most this year.
Outside of motherhood, organisation, wellbeing and joy are what I’m hoping for in 2024. Because it’s finally time to admit that we are drowning in life & house admin that have been neglected in the last two years and that I have become new levels of shit at replying to messages. Because now that I’ve got myself back to a good place, I’d like it to continue and, similarly, I want to enjoy this feeling and this phase of life as much as possible.
Organisation
1. Use the first quarter of the year to tackle life admin tasks that have been sat on the list forever.
2. WhatsApp at 0 by the end of the day.
3. Tackle the bedroom renovations and move Alfie into a bigger bedroom.
4. Write a list of birthdays and organise birthday cards at the beginning of each month.
5. Tackle the house admin, room by room.
6. Put together Alfie’s memory box.
7. Ten-minute tidy around the house at the end of the day.
8. Lunch meal planning.
9. Stay on top of photos, backing up and putting into photo albums on a regular basis.
Joy
10. Read 40 books and continue buying second hand and supporting independent bookshops as much as possible.
11. Big family holiday in Camber Sands!
12. Continue weekly writing sessions.
13. My sister’s hen do, and wedding!
14. Make baking more adventurous and challenging this year. Teach myself new things, try things that seem beyond my skills, try pastry, try sourdough from scratch and – the biggest challenge yet – my sister’s wedding cake!
15. A special trip to celebrate our five-year wedding anniversary.
16. Write recipes down in recipe notebook.
17. Visit somewhere new in the UK for our family summer holiday.
Wellbeing
18. Remember to floss teeth and practice good ear care. Forking out £45 the day before new year for an emergency ear appointment was not the one.
19. Continue to build on my workout routine, with a focus on how it makes me feel and what I enjoy.
20. Keep a journal.
21. More seasonal and varied eating.
22. Do exercises for injured ankle.
23. Be more mindful with phone usage, particularly around Alfie, and checking social media only once a day.
24. Big things may be coming this year. I can see them lingering on the horizon, all sorts of weather that may or may not pass my way. Anxiously trying to predict it or worrying about what may happen is not going to help. Take a deep breath and go with it. What will be will be.
Hope you have good things ahead this year dear reader x
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