Thursday 5 January 2017

The Start of a New Year

The Christmas holidays have flown by again and as soon as you get in the routine of  sleeping in later and not having to rush about in the mornings, it’s time to go back to school.  It’s been a shock to the system this week to wake up at 6am, but at least it’s a three day school week, so it will soon be the weekend again.  Even better, there is only another five weeks at school until half term, so I can see January soon slipping into February.  This is always the shortest term and once you get through this one, you can feel the weather getting warmer and summer approaching.  Something to look forward to after the excitement of Christmas is finished with.

Last month we had an Advent activities list with 24 things to do before Christmas Day, which motivated the children and gave them all something to look forward to each day.  Our daughter is now continuing this and has written herself a list of 31 things to achieve in January.  She is motivated to do more things, rather than just sit on her phone or watch tv, which I’m not going to complain about. 

We are all trying to do the ‘Walk 1000 miles in a year’ Challenge, which kept springing up in my Facebook feed over Christmas.  Our two oldest children are competing against themselves to see who can walk the most each week.  It’s good to see them wanting to be outside on these cold, frosty days and planning what walks they can do over the weekends to build up their miles, as there’s only so much they can walk on a school day, especially when it gets dark so early.  Our daughter is at an advantage as she is allowed her phone with her all day at school, so she can measure her walking distance around school.  However, our eldest son will find a way to ensure he keeps on target each day.  They are very competitive.

Last year they both did the Martin Lewis savings plan for children and by the end of the year, our eldest son had saved enough to buy an Xbox One and Xbox live subscription for a year.  Our daughter had a great spending spree at Harry Potter Studios when we visited there on Christmas Eve and has bought up most of the Soap and Glory products she has been able to find in the sales.  Plus she has money left, as she hasn’t been so keen to spend it all, now that it is her money that she has saved, rather than spending ours.  It’s been a great learning curve for them both and they have appreciated what they have been able to buy themselves.  They are both already saving again this year with a goal in mind of what they want to buy at the end of the year. 

I’m keen to get going this year and start new projects after having such a bad time with my health last year.  However, I have been advised by the Consultant that it may take as long as a year for me to be fully recovered, so I have to be patient!  I’m not one to sit and do nothing and have started the new year by entering two short story competitions.  I may not be the next JK Rowling yet, but who knows what will happen in the future.  I can dream and aspire to reach that goal, just like I encourage all three of our children to go for their dreams.