Moments that have made me smile in December

Christmas shows, prioritising joy and Substack posts I've loved recently too

Photo by Raspopova Marina on Unsplash

I’ve been writing this post on and off in small moments throughout today - I wanted to get a post out before my kids finish for school tomorrow, so I’m pleased I’ve managed to write something!!

After a week of our whole house being ill last week, this week I’m just grateful that we are all better - looking after poorly kids when you are ill yourself is so hard. This week has been all about enjoying a quiet days with my youngest before my two eldest break up for school tomorrow and the chaos of Christmas begins!

In this post I want to share some moments that have made me smile in December, prioritising joy and Substack posts I’ve loved lately.

Moments that have made me smile in December:

• Watching my middle son play with his friends at a lovely low-key birthday party he went to

• Going to a Christmas party at my friend’s house with the kids and she’d made a table that was allergy inclusive for my daughter - it meant so much that she could eat anything on the table without feeling different or left out

• My youngest saying ‘ho ho ho’ and ‘wowwwwww’ every time he sees any Christmas lights

  

  Photo by Mel Poole on Unsplash

• Taking my youngest for a walk to look at the fire station round the corner and the fireman opening the door and showing my son around the fire engine

• Taking my youngest for little walks around the block now that he isn’t a huge fan of his buggy anymore - he babbles to himself and laughs as he’s toddling along

• Practising a dairy free mac and cheese recipe for my daughter to eat on Christmas Day and it tasted delicious

• Watching my daughter at her swimming lessons and how much she’s improved

• Crocheting my blanket while watching my daughter swimming and people coming up to me and asking me about the blanket and talking about their love of crochet and crafts too

• Having some one on one time with my daughter and chatting just the two of us in the car

• My middle son being so excited to read his first ‘Dog Man’ book to me, and being so proud of himself when he completed it

• My youngest transitioning to his own toddler bed, and being in it more than he co-sleeps with me now - well apart from those unsettled nights where he likes to lie across my lap on his tummy and sleep!

• Reading the beautiful words my daughter wrote on my husband’s birthday card

• Putting homemade brightly coloured pom-poms on the Christmas tree

• Seeing my daughter thrive on stage for her Christmas concert - she loved every minute!

• Even though my middle son was ill and missed his Christmas concert, he watched it on Zoom and sung the Christmas songs in his pyjamas

Prioritising joy

This short video from Suzy Reading about prioritising joy really hit home with me last week. Suzy reminds us that we deserve to feel joy too over Christmas and actually, it might just be the thing that gets us through Christmas.

This really landed with me, because I find Christmas so tough (I talked about this more in this post).

So, I took this as a sign to order myself some new essential oils (eucalyptus and lemongrass), the 2024 Almanac from

Lia Leendertz

and some new wool to start crocheting Christmas blankets for my kids.

A few little things to bring me joy throughout Christmas!

I’ve also signed up for the Winter Writing Sanctuary that

Beth Kempton

is running so I’m looking forward to that - has anyone else signed up?

Two new Substacks I’ve discovered lately which are so funny are:

• Katie Clapham
  ’s Receipt from the Bookshop - posts that Katie writes live throughout her working day at her bookshop - just love these posts

• lucy sweet
  ‘s The Lucyverse- hilarious reviews about totally random things - enjoyed the Christmas themed ones lately especially when she was talking about all of the clothes you can buy for Elf on the Shelf (a high vis jacket, a fluffy rainbow jacket and more!)

Substack posts I’ve loved lately:

• Couldn’t agree more with

  Janelle Hardacre
  on her love of libraries in this post

• Love listening to

  Charlene Storey
  and her words of wisdom - especially this one on creating imperfectly and sharing it anyway

• Excited for

  Laura Oldfield
  and the launch of her new podcast, Pivot - a podcast that celebrates the big pivots and small side-steps we take in our lives

• This post from

  Hunter Burgtorf
  on living slowly and desiring a big life really resonated with me - especially when she talks about taking bits of what we like, doing what works for us, the grey areas and living authentically.

• This post and these soothing meditations from

  Lauren Barber
  - I did the meditation on softening and letting go of tension one morning before the rush of the school run chaos, and it definitely helped me feel calmer!

• I’ve been listening to the Wintering playlist that

  Sarah Robertson
  created, on repeat - it’s perfect for the dark mornings

• I really enjoyed this post from

  Kylie-Ann
  on high scores and leaderboards

  

  In case you missed them, here’s a round up of my latest posts and podcast episodes:

• A different kind of Christmas -- reflecting on what's important and having a simpler, slower Christmas

• Slowing down this winter - a podcast episode on practical ways to slow down and rest even at such a busy time of year

• Is consistency realistic? - on being proud of my achievements this year, and at the same time realising it's too much

• Taking the pressure off at Christmas - if you are feeling like it’s all getting a bit too much at this time of year, this is the podcast episode for you!

Thank you

I also wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has subscribed to The Motherhood Connection, who has read these posts, listened to my podcast, commented and shared my posts on Notes - I appreciate you all so much!

To know that my words connect and resonate is such an amazing feeling.

I am also so grateful for all of the wonderful connections I’ve made since starting this Substack, I never could have imagined I’d find such a supportive community over here!

I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and New Year, and that in amongst it all you find time for you too!

In the comments, I’d love to know:

• What moments have made you smile in December?

• What Substack posts have you loved recently?