My November highlights

Plus, I talk about getting out of your comfort zone and making a change, my TV and book recommendations & Substack posts I’ve loved recently

Well, it’s been a little while since I’ve posted here - in all honesty I kind of ran out of ideas of what to write for a bit there.

This has happened a few times before, so I knew that taking some time to rest (that means reading lots and crocheting for me) means that the ideas will come back again when they are ready.

So, here I am, back feeling full of new ideas and ready to write again!

This week I’m talking about:

• my November highlights

• getting out of your comfort zone and making a change

• my TV and book recommendations &

• Substack posts I’ve loved recently

Hope you enjoy reading!

November highlights

• Lots of Autumn walks to the park with my youngest in his trike - I wrap him up warm and he likes to bring a cuddly toy along too and talk to it as we are walking. Then, at the park, he usually pretends that the slide is a fire engine and he has to put out a fire. Cue me pretending to put out fires in the park!

• My youngest has got into jigsaws lately which is probably the only thing I can tolerate playing for a long period of time, so I’m happy about that! I’ve been putting on audiobooks for him while we do the jigsaw too and it’s interesting to see how much he picks up from it. If you have any good audiobook recommendations for toddlers, send them my way!

• I’ve been working on my Christmas Gingerbread crochet blanket since October. It’s a crochet-a-long, so they release a new part of the pattern each week. Technically I should have finished it by now, but I’m only now finishing Week 3 - there’s 6 weeks in total. I’m hopeful I can get it finished before Christmas and I’m enjoying learning lots of new crochet stitches and techniques along the way.

• Watching Wicked with my eldest last weekend - I was watching her reactions to parts of the film and she was just mesmerised. She loved every minute and declared it the best thing she’s ever seen! Safe to say she’s quickly learnt all the words for ‘Defying Gravity’ and it is sung loudly at hourly intervals!! I loved it too and it’s not often I get one on one time with my eldest so it was a real treat.

• I really feel like Christmas has appeared out of nowhere this year, and I know that I said the same last year. My post around this time last year talks how I’m definitely not the biggest fan of Christmas. And I’m laughing because last year, I was like, I want to do more experiences with the kids over Christmas - well we did one of those Illuminate park events last year and there was a storm. We walked round in the torrential rain and huge puddles with the kids asking - why are we doing this and when does it finish? We all couldn’t wait to get home and dry!!

  Then, I booked tickets for Horrible Histories Christmas show for my daughter and middle son as a surprise, and I only ended up going with my daughter because my middle son was not interested in going at all. So, this year, Christmas experiences do not appear in my Christmas plans at all!!

• Investing in at home workout community - my youngest is finally sleeping better after 2.5 years of rubbish sleep so now I’m getting more sleep at night I’ve got a bit more energy to do some exercise. Ideally, I’d go to the gym but trying to arrange that around the kids is just stressful so at home workouts have been ideal. I really notice the difference on the days that I do and don’t exercise so I’m excited to keep going with it. Focusing on how exercise gives me a mood boost and celebrating the fact that I am showing up, rather than focusing on weight loss is helping me stick at it.

Getting out your comfort zone and making a change

Up until about 5 weeks ago, I’d say I was firmly in my comfort zone with my daily routine. I knew where I was, what I had to do when, and it felt good.

Until, the dreaded nap drop happened. (Well, I say nap drop - I’ve scrapped the afternoon nap which meant a 10pm bedtime, and instead we are doing no nap and bed by 6:30pm.)

So, everything had to change.

The first two weeks I was miserable - I’ll be honest I was used to my break when my youngest napped. I probably needed the break more than he did!

When he napped, I knew there would be a break in the day just for me to do what I wanted to do - which would usually involve me writing a Substack post, working on my coaching business, reading or resting.

Without knowing that there was a break in my day, I started to panic. I wondered how I was going to cope and get through the day.

We need to give ourselves some grace to know that any kind of change will feel hard. It’s natural to struggle with change.

We are not supposed to just adapt to a brand new situation overnight, accept it and carry on. It takes time to adjust and find your way.

But then I started to think, OK what can we do to replace the naps? I realised we actually had more freedom because I didn’t need to worry about timings of naps in my day.

I got creative thinking of the different things we could do, that we both enjoyed - things we could do at home and out and about.

I realised that despite finding this change really tough to start with, it’s given me a change to re-design my day.

To create a new routine that works for me and my youngest which has meant lots of lovely walks out and about exploring, going to the park, walking into town, going to the library and chatting along the way.

If we use this idea of change being an opportunity to do things our own way, then it brings us nicely to thinking of the changes you might want to make in your life.

Maybe you’d like to:

• cultivate a more positive mindset because you are just so done with those old, outdated negative stories that keep coming up

• finally make progress with that health goal you’ve had for ages and you just haven’t found the time to get round to it

• learn how to swap your inner critic for a kinder and more compassionate voice because you are fed up with being so hard on yourself

Whatever that change is that you want to make, then you can do that your way.

In a way that feels good to you, at a pace that feels good to you.

As a Coach, I’m all about taking setting feel good goals, taking imperfect action, taking small steps and celebrating your achievements along the way.

If you’d love to make 2025 the year that you finally take action on those changes you’ve been wanting to make in your life, for way too long, then I’d love to hear from you! Let’s chat some more to see how I can best support you.

What I’ve been watching and reading in November

Watching: Rivals on Disney. Loved it all!

Also, the return of Made in Chelsea, it’s total rubbish but I love it, trashy reality TV at it’s finest.

Books: Some of the books I enjoyed over November were:

• The Partner Plot - Kristina Forest

• The Man of her Dreams - Sarra Manning

• The Ex Vows - Jessica Joyce

• Talking at Night - Claire Daverley

• See You Next Winter - Holly June Smith

I’m enjoying sinking into the winter themed and Christmas themed books lately too and I’m currently reading Snowed In by Catherine Walsh.

What did you read/watch in November? Let me know your recommendations in the comments!

Substack posts I’ve loved recently:

• As a people pleaser, I enjoyed this post from

  Karen Cannon
  on ‘What a month of no’s has taught me’, especially this piece of advice:

“(I) realised that it’s absolutely ok to say yes and then later say no. This is something I wouldn’t normally do in fear of upsetting someone or appearing fussy but following my gut felt good and I will now aspire to keep this going.”

• This post from

  Jodie Melissa Rogers
  on reducing the overwhelm and bringing in more joy over the festive period - I think I'll be re-reading this a few times in the run up to Xmas! 🎄

• These reflections and a beautiful poem from

  Lauren Barber
  on who we really are behind the labels that we have/or are placed on us. Something for me to journal on I think 💛

• These fun and creative gift ideas from Alexandra Kelebay - I love the idea of the memory jar.

• A gorgeous colourful post full of spring blooms from Stephanie Elizabeth 🌸🌼🌹, that will guarantee to cheer you up.

• This post from

  Kathy Brown
  on her time working in a hospice was so beautiful and tender. This quote will stay with me for a long time:

“Mike reminded me, and still does, that there is nothing more important than being kind to each other. That really, if you think about it, the simple truth of life is that we’re all just walking each other home.”

• This post from

  Ellie Pulze
  on motherhood and sleep deprivation.

Thank you for reading and I’d love to hear from you in the comments:

• What were your November highlights?

• What have you been reading and watching in November?

• What are some of your favourite Substack posts that you’ve read recently?

I’ll be back in your inboxes next Sunday with the next Motherhood and Creativity interview, which’ll be with

Zofia K-Stanley

from Hospital and Home.

You can catch up with the rest of the 18 Motherhood and Creativity interviews here.

You might also like some of my most recent posts:

• How taking imperfect action reduces your overwhelm - (guest post for

  Jillian Bybee
  over
  Humans Leading
  )

• 3 things I’ve realised from running gatherings for mums over 6 years

• Can I shed this feeling of anxiety? Maybe not forever, but just for now