Welcome to the January 2013 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Recovering from the Holidays This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have written about how their families get back to normal after the holidays are over. ***

Something interesting has been happening of late. Something I decided to keep quiet about because I’ve seen cocky gloating parents eat their words time and time again: I’ve been getting sleep. That’s right folks. As much as 8 barely broken hours in one night.

There were days, weeks in fact, where the exhaustion was so severe that its only in retrospect that I  realise that i was even tired. In fact, I always said I wasn’t sleep deprived! I guess I accepted tired as the new normal.

So why am I sharing this now? Because with a good nights sleep comes a certain clarity, a new sense of perspective and new directions and ambitions. And of course a new year doesn’t hurt either. It’s the global time for making promises to ourselves, after the madness, the loss of routines and the relative insanity of the holiday season. So if you’re struggling with insomnia, I suggest you go to eumeds.com now and buy yourself sleeping pills.

In a weird way the new year hasn’t really started for me yet.  I’m sill in Perth, still house sharing, still dancing very much to someone else’s tune. But this year I realise something very important: the future doesn’t start tomorrow.

It didn’t start on January 1st, and it wont start the day I get back to England.

The future starts right now and while I may not be able to implement huge changes in my life today, I can lay the foundations, do the groundwork, throw myself wholeheartedly at the small differences my life needs to end up where I want it.

I cant have a “spend nothing month” but I can have a week a month or a day a week where we actively choose not to buy anything, to say no to something we didn’t really need in the fist place.

I cant be totally gluten-free while I’m not totally in charge of my shopping or my budget  but I can be gluten free in my snack choices, and the shopping I am in charge of. I cant follow a raw food diet wholly right now, but just because I didn’t start on 1 January doesn’t mean I cant still learn, develop, grow.

My children deserve the health and lifestyle benefits every day irrespective of when it starts – irrespective of my circumstances.

So watch this space, friends and readers because this year I aim to bring you two self published books, at least halve my debt and establish and adopt a new relationship with food, and I am sure you’ll be the first to hear all about it.

The past is the past.

It’s time for me to look through the fog, and grab on to the new day dawning, the one where my children bring me new challenges, and open doors for me to something new, something better, and most of all, something I never knew I wanted.

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” ― Mother Teresa

*** Carnival of Natural Parenting -- Hobo Mama and Code Name: MamaVisit Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting this March! Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants: (This list will be live and updated by afternoon January 14 with all the carnival links.)

  • Pinterest Inspiration for Easier Winter Holidays Shannon, writing at Natural Parents Network, shares inspiration for having more relaxed winter holidays from their Handmade Holidays Pinterest board.
  • Seven Recipes for Beans – Post Holiday Cleaning — Destany at They Are All of Me shares her favorite bean recipes that she hopes will help her body recover from overindulging her sweet tooth during the holidays.
  • The Recovery in the Change — Laura at Pug in the Kitchen made changes in her life and attitude throughout 2012 and was pleasantly surprised at how those changes impacted her holiday recovery!
  • Could this question change your life for ever? — To get your new year off on the right footing, Mrs Green of Little Green Blog is challenging us all to love ourselves with commitment and discipline. She asks you to focus on a simple question which might just bring you back in balance…
  • Holiday Recovery — Meegs at A New Day talks about how the holidays can be overwhelming for a toddler, and how she’s helping her 3 year old recover.
  • 5 Ways to Detox After the Holidays — Brittany at The Pistachio Project gives a few ways to help you detox and get back on track after the holiday season has passed.
  • 3 Simple Ways to Establishing Rhythm After the Holidays or Any Time — Sheila at A Living Family shares 3 simple ways to reestablish a rhythm of connection and calm in your family after holidays, visitors, travel or any time.
  • Gemstones For Holiday Hangoverss — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama delves into the power of gemstones as an often overlooked means of dealing with the holiday letdown.
  • Getting back to Healthy — Bess at A Warrior Mom talks about the struggle of getting young ones back to eating healthy after several days to weeks of getting more candy and sweets than normal for the holidays and gives some suggestions on how to get them back to eating healthy in the new year.
  • Post Christmas Juice Feast — Sam at Love Parenting explains why she has created a new tradition of juice feasting, and how she includes her toddler when detoxing.
  • The Java Monkey On My Back — Christy at Eco Journey in the Burbs realizes it is time to kick her cup of Joe habit as a first step toward detoxing.
  • Minimalist Holidays — Jorje of Momma Jorje doesn’t find much need for recovery after her minimalist version of the holidays.
  • Do something for you — Lauren at Hobo Mama urges you to find a silly and indulgent reward of me-time — and she has hers.
  • do we recover? — Kenna at Million Tiny Things wonders what recovery really means in the context of the tragedies of this past holiday season.
  • 37 Easy Ways to Save Money — Shannon at GrowingSlower is sharing these money-saving tips to help get your budget back on track after the holidays.
  • A Two Year Old’s ResolutionsThat Mama Gretchen is putting the holidays behind her with a spin on traditional resolutions — New Year’s goals for her two-year-old! Sound crazy? Read on for an explanation!
  • How to Find Balance after the Holidays — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now tells her favorite ways to start a new year with hope and calmness.
  • Fresh Awakening — For Luschka at Diary of a First Child, the new year has coincided with a return to restful nights. With sleep, she’s found new directions in life, but while she can’t make too many changes to her life right now, she’s inspired and excited about the future.
  • Learning to slow down after a busy Festive Season Stoneageparent describes the joys and lows of this year’s festive season, as well as her New Year’s resolutions.
  • Detoxing’ Your Toddler After the Holidays — Does your family suffer side effects from the holidays? Join Christine from African Babies Don’t Cry to learn how she detoxed herself and her toddler off the treats and festivities of the season.
  • Scheduling is OK! — Jaye Anne at Wide Awake, Half Asleep explores the possibilities of the — SCHEDULE!!
  • Holiday-Free but not Stress-Free — Mercedes at Project Procrastinot takes it easy after moving with her husband and new babies to Scotland.
  • A Vacation from the World — Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children retreats with her family at the end of every year in order to recuperate and enjoy one another.
  • On the Road to Recovery — Dionna at Code Name: Mama isn’t just recovering from the holidays, she’s recovering from a lifestyle.
  • We Never Left the GrindErika Gebhardt compares a typical day pre-holidays and post-holidays.
  • Remembering and Recovering from the Holidays (One day at a time) — Emily at S.A.H.M i AM is recovering from holidays slowly–taking one day at a time–while trying to remember all the sweet moments that passed too quickly.
  • 5 a Day — To get back on track Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy needed a simple system to help her family learn new values.
  • Holiday Detox & Healing: Bieler Broth — Megan at The Boho Mama shares her secret for a gentle, whole-foods-based post-holiday detox: Bieler Broth!
  • I’m Mama Not Supermom — After a year filled with changes Angela at EarthMamas World has to remind herself that she does not have to be supermom while recovering from the holiday chaos.

 

18 Comments

Fresh Awakening

  1. We too, are living in transition. I keep saying, “when we move” or “when we are settled” and this post was a great reminder that EACH DAY is a fresh start and I can begin some of my future goals now. Thank you 🙂

  2. Congrats on the sleep! That’s a big one.

    I totally agree — it helps me not to look for some special day to start something when I could start right now.

  3. Totally agree with you that you don’t have to wait for news years day to implement changes! All the best for the year ahead, 2013 is going to be amazing! 🙂

  4. I have complete faith in you and the changes you wish to implement into your life, into the life of your children. The future does start today and I know if any of us will reach the goals they set for themselves, it will be you. I’m sending love and gentle hugs your way, along with many Prayers.

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