Holiday Connections
It's the school holidays for us here in NSW, this may fill you with excitement or dread. I have gone through both of those ends of the scale feelings. When I was still home with little ones, having the big kids home for the holidays did NOT fill me with excitement, I was perpetually tired, so holidays would just add to the exhaustion. Once more of the kids went to school I managed to get some breaks during the term so the holidays were a more pleasant time to look forward to. This year is the first year where I have to spend some hours working during the holidays, making holiday fun harder to come by, as I try to do EVERYTHING as per usual. But here I have some easy tips to survive and even thrive throughout the holidays. 1 - Make sure you get time to CONNECT WITH YOU. Spend time doing things that you love, things that fill you up. If you don't know what fills you up, make a list of thing you enjoy doing that put you in a good mood. So far, I have gotten into nature doing a long bush walk and spending a day at the beach (I did this with my family, I totally recommend doing this on your own too). I have read in the hammock, attended fitness classes, gone shopping without kids and I have a dinner with friends booked in. All things that make me feel human and fill my cup. 2 - COUPLE CONNECTION For my hubby and I, holidays are always the time we get to spend extra time doing things we love together and reconnecting after a busy term. Being married to a teacher does have a silver lining...sometimes. We have coffee together, go for late night walks around the block and watch lots of movies, but we also take time to reassess how our relationship is going. We made a commitment years ago to always be looking at how we can grow our marriage and that means we do a little check in during the break. 3 - One-on-One CONNECTING You guys, having 4 kids means it is sometimes impossible to get around to everyone and give them individual attention every day, so the holidays is when this can happen. During the term, time with an individual is more reactive rather than proactive so we make up for that in the holidays. 4 - CONNECTING as a Family These holidays have included an 8km bushwalk, a beach day, an epic Super Mario Kart Challenge (I did not win) and games of Finska in the backyard, It's a great time to continue to help build our family into the team that allows everyone to belong and feel safe. How are your holidays going? Do you get excited, or is it just hard work? Nina x
