14 Jan 2026
New Year Possibilities
Well, okay, I might be a little disappointed if I don’t do any of it, but the point is: this is not about punishment and pressure. It’s about looking at the blank page and musing about what could be had from the year. Mostly, I want the same but more. More of this lovely little life. More of the everyday joys of watching my babies grow. But maybe slightly more balance? Taking a bit more time to ourselves once I’m less confined by breastfeeding. Reintroducing our monthly dates. Have a day in London with my sister. Have a solo date – take myself out for lunch and to browse bookshops and just let my brain breathe a bit. Occasionally see friends without a baby in tow. Treat myself to a manicure. Have a massage! Live in delusional hope that one massage can cure all the aches caused by childbirth/breastfeeding/general day-to-day parenting!
Be intentional. With everything. Quality time, hobbies, habits. Try not to do everything in impossible levels of multi-tasking frenzy. Be realistic about what can fit into one day; make peace with reaching the end of the day with a long to-do list still ongoing. Good enough is excellent, perfection is impossible.
Get offline. Life should be more analogue; my phone should be like a tool – a Swiss Army knife. You wouldn’t sit and pointlessly stare at a Swiss Army knife instead of doing things you love. I deleted instagram off my phone before Christmas – the difference! This has to stay the case. No screens in the bedroom. More TV free evenings. Writing things by hand – it’s grounding. Journal. Note down thoughts on books and bakes. Opinions formed outside of the internet. Hobbies that use my hands; baking, of course, and maybe some scrapbooking this year? With stickers! Learn more about my iPhone camera. Print out that nice photo of the sunset or a cake or a pretty building. Put it in a scrapbook, make it physical.
Prioritise offline writing over online writing. But also, don’t overthink online writing. I love this space, I love Substack. Good enough, not perfect.
Invest time in things that will make my life easier in the long run. Declutter the house in tiny increments every day. 10 minutes a day to reply to messages (Stop! Taking! Weeks! To! Reply!). Back up & organise photos once a month. Write a seven-day meal plan - breakfast, lunch & dinner – and the full shopping list to go with it. Use it when I’m exhausted, overwhelmed or busy. Don’t do meal planning and the food shop at 10pm on a Sunday. Use the emergency meal plan when it’s 10pm on a Sunday and I’m cursing myself for not having stuck to this. Go shopping for good jeans; I hate it but I don’t like any of the jeans in my wardrobe and it’s just getting silly. Go shopping for glasses; my prescription is wildly out of date. Simplify my skincare (just can’t shake the feeling that most of it is all a scam?).
Pay attention to what my kids need and then apply it to myself. If I think that they need to be drinking enough water, eating enough veg and spending plenty of time outside, then so should I. If I think it’s good for them to feel boredom rather than having constant stimulation, then perhaps I need to allow the sensation too.
Expand my brain. Read outside my comfort zone. Authors I want to read more of, or try, for the first time this year: Zadie Smith, Maggie O’Farrell, Fredrik Backman, Eliza Clark, Saba Sams, Brit Bennett, Alison Espach, Ian McEwan & Nora Ephron. Read more of my cookbooks – I love reading cookbooks! Cook recipes with unfamiliar ingredients. Try five new bread recipes. Nail a really good tiramisu recipe, both vegan and non-vegan. Make a Bundt cake. Perfect really good porridge. Eat lots of beans, like nice, good-quality beans. Those fancy ones you see in jars. Plenty of veg, plenty of pasta. Ooo try five new pasta shapes. And unusual pestos! There isn’t a rule that says New Year’s resolutions can’t be daft and fun, although we all seem to act so.
Take the boys for a weekend in London, take them on the London eye, see it through their eyes. Go back to Center Parcs. Keep going to national trust places on the regular. Go on mini adventures. Put my toes in the sea at least once.
Live seasonally. I spent 2025 writing could-do lists at the start of each season and I found it energising, having that little re-set every 2-3 months. It made me feel like I was making the most out of the moment. Leaning into the feeling of each season (see above about January being gentle). More of this. I want to live slow enough to notice the seasons change. Cook seasonally, switch things around in the house. Even just changing my phone background to a recent photo of the snow. Small changes stop me feeling sluggish and I struggle to care if others think it’s all a bit silly. More silly little things that make me happy!
Happy new year folks!
P.S. I have been poor at sharing posts on social media in recent months so if you've come from that direction, here's some ones you may have missed:
Summer Journal | Slipped Away Like A Moment In Time
One Minute Book Reviews | Summer Reads
The Golden In-Between Month | An Ode To September
Why I'm A Center Parcs Convert
October'25 Scrapbook | Primrose Hill & Other Autumnal Days
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