How to survive the post-holiday slump

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Hello to all my wonderful readers, you may have noticed I fell off the radar again this month. Once I finally got over all of my various illnesses, (except for the conjunctivitis Miss K so kindly shared with me two weeks ago) I discovered the silly season was well and truly upon us, and I needed to get my ample bottom into gear to get ready for the celebrations. I'm sure you'll all appreciate how crazy things get around this time of year, so even if I did attempt to write anything, it would have come out as a crazed stream of consciousness, complete with rambles about tinsel and presents for a family of 15. But now with the endless stream of parties and gift giving ceremonies almost behind us for another year, I sit here eating what's left of the plum pudding in an empty room, wondering to myself now what?

We hosted Christmas at my house this year, and in a stroke of what I can only call pure insanity, mum decided the party needed to be beach themed this year. So I spent a crazed week crawling through Pinterest trying to find beach themed decor I could do on a budget of free hugs and my most charming smile, and managed to cobble together a beach themed party that even a mermaid couldn't fault. Then our annual Boxing Day party got moved from my big sister's house to our house at the last minute due to inclement weather, and the fact that we have a larger living space to accommodate all of the slightly larger bodies thanks to the feast we put out the day before, so we ended up having two parties in two days at our house. On top of that I spent three hours building a kitchen for Miss K at 9pm Christmas Eve, went shopping every single day for a week for more Christmas essentials, and also cleaned the house so that we weren't shamed by the fact that for 364 days of the year we live like someone from an episode of Hoarders, Buried Alive. So sitting here now, with nothing to do is kind of hard to do. Add to that the fact that Miss K has now gone to Melbourne for a week to have Christmas with her father and his family, and I am as lost as a one legged man in a butt kicking contest. So I have decided to share with you some of the techniques I have learned over the years to get over the post-holiday blues that always hit at this time of year, to help you guys achieve the balanced calm I so clearly show on a daily basis.

Me on a good day

Go shopping

Now that gift giving season is over, you really have no reason to go shopping, but that is exactly why you should get out now, more than ever. Beside getting to take advantage of the opportunity to return any practical gifts that well meaning long distance relatives bought you at the last minute so they didn't show up at your house empty handed, you can witness human beings at their absolute worst, thus making you appreciate your empty house and it's lack of festive feelings all the more. The long line of customers all coming to complain about the over priced child's toy that broke five minutes after being removed from it's packaging only makes you love your own family all the more, because they aren't that obnoxious man at the front of the line loudly proclaiming that this is the last time he shops at this particular store. 

Clean up your house

You've just spent the last month complaining that if you stepped on another bauble the whole tree was going into the bin, so now is the time to make good on your promise. Pull down the tinsel, drag every strand of angel hair out of your carpet, and throw all of it in the bin (or into storage if you can't stand the thought of having to replace it all again in ten months time). The sight of you going into a cleaning craze will send your children running outside just in case you get the bright idea to give them any jobs to do of their own, so now is the perfect time to "lose" any of the irritating noise makers or cheap plastic toys they were given by the same well meaning relatives who thought a life time supply of micro fibre cloths was the perfect gift for you at the same time. This is also a good time to search for any stashes of chocolates the kids have hiding in their rooms, and add them to your own stash of chocolate hidden in your bedroom. You need the sugar more than they do, as you're the one who spends your life chasing after them trying to get them to act like civilized human beings. 

Put on some tunes and dance alone in your living room

Just because the party season is over, doesn't mean you need to pack away your best moves for another year. The lack of audience apart from your children is irrelevant, as you can always embarrass them, no matter the time of year, so get your boogie on and keep the party going as long as you want it to. If you didn't get to do the Nutbush this year because you got vetoed at the last second by someone wanting to do the Whip Nae Nae (whatever the hell that is) then put that song on repeat and Nutbush until you can't move any more. You deserve it after all the hard work you've put into these holidays.

Eat all the party food in the house

If you were too busy to eat during Christmas because you were hosting the party, now is the time to get yourself a big plate of whatever is left over and eat it in front of every one. Diets are for the first day of January anyway. I personally like to buy two plum puddings, simply because I am a horrible pig who doesn't like to share my food, so I always have enough pudding to last me several weeks once all the parties are done with. I don't need to buy any breakfast or lunch foods for ages now because I spent an extra $4 a week ago. That's not only smart, it's economical. 

Start getting ready for the next big celebration now

If you've been bitten by the party bug but Valentines Day is too far away from you, get on Google now and find another holiday closer to today you can prepare for. For Australians, Australia Day is always a good one, as it falls on 26th January, meaning there is plenty of time still left to start preparing our barbeques and best Australian Flag decorated party supplies for the big day. For something even closer again, check out Earth Calendar which tells you exactly what you can celebrate every single day of the year. For example today is St Stephens day in Bulgaria. So if that is enough reason for you to party, get out your best duds and celebrate St Stephen as only you can. 

Sleep

If all else fails, get into your pyjamas and go back to bed. 

Well that should be enough to get you through the next few days, so if you'll excuse me, it is currently the Stanley Sports Day in the Falkland Islands so I'm off to hit a tennis ball against a wall to honor this special day. 

My prima ballerina

So this is just a quick post to share some photos with you guys.

For anyone who knows our family, you would know that my baby sister owned a dance school until the middle of last year. As a result of her own 16 years of dance lessons and then owning a dance school, our house has been filled with bags and boxes and crates of old dancing costumes for years now. So today mum finally got tired of looking at the bags and boxes and crates and put all of the school's costumes in a vacuum seal bag so that they could be stored more efficiently. Well Miss K was in seventh heaven with all these pretty dresses sitting around just waiting to be touched and explored. In among all of the lycra and tulle was my baby sisters old tutu, which was one of Miss K's personal favourites. So just because I am the best mum in the world and I love making my baby smile, I helped her to pop the dress on so she could be a ballerina just like her aunty. Thankfully my sister had her phone ready because otherwise these photos wouldn't have happened. (Stupid camera batteries dying last night)

So without further ado, let me introduce you to my little ballerina.

Now ballet is not my favorite thing in the world, and up until before Miss K was born I was adamant that my little girl would not be taking dance lessons like her two auntys and one uncle did as kids. However I have been told by all of my sisters and my mum, and my little sister's former dance teacher that I have no choice, and Miss K MUST take dance lessons when she's older. I would fight this, but the sheer delight on her face in these photos is enough proof that Miss K might want this just as much as everyone else does. Luckily for us, as little as this area does have in the way of entertainment, it is absolutely filled with dance schools, so we are definitely spoilt for choice. Just as well because it looks like I've got no say in the matter.

Dear Diary (the late, late, late edition)

OK so this is why I never could make my own diaries last more than a week. I'm terrible at remembering to write in them. This diary entry is in fact a week and a half late. I'm going to put missing last weeks dear diary entry down to the fact that my week was so boring I fell asleep every time I even thought about trying to put it into words. I can't even remember really what I did last week to let you guys know, so you'll thank me for sparing you the mundaneness that was my life two weeks ago.

It's not really true that I can't remember what I have been up to the last two weeks, because the simple fact is I've been studying. Almost non stop. Miss K is rather disgusted at the enthusiasm with which I have thrown myself into becoming a student, because it means that she is forced to have her tea parties and walk up and down our lounge room by herself. That's right, I said walk. My little girl is having a much more exciting time than I am at the moment, which is why this dear diary entry is dedicated to her.

Where to begin though, that is the big question. I did say that Miss K was walking above, but I probably should note that it isn't unassisted yet. For Christmas last year I bought her a walker with all kinds of fancy buttons which plays a large number of irritating songs, and speaks in a most condescending voice to anyone who happens to push a button.

Miss K playing with her walker on Christmas Day

Now for the longest time Miss K played with it by sitting down and pushing the buttons, and any time you tried to get her to use it as a walker, she would crack a massive temper tantrum and make the eardrums of anyone within a 50 metre radius bleed. But I finally decided it was time she learned about the wonderful world of walking, and showed her how to use the walker to get around the room. Well now there is no stopping her, except if she comes across a wall, or a mountain of toys, then it's mum to the rescue to redirect her and the walker. But this new method of transport has opened up a big world for Miss K and she really is flourishing.

Another big milestone for us this week is the fact that Miss K can finally feed herself. This was such an exciting day for me when she finally started accepting her spoon from me and eating from it unassisted I almost cried. It's times like this that I really realise how big my baby is getting and how quickly the time is flying. It won't be long until I don't even need to load her spoon with food and hand it to her, and I think that will be the point I will have to stop calling her my baby. 

Another thing that Miss K has discovered, much to my disappointment is the wonderful world of dancing. I have recently discovered an awesome TV show called Dance Moms, which airs on pay TV here in Australia. My little sister is obsessed with the show and got her hands on the first two seasons for mum to watch, and as a result almost everyone in this family is now obsessed with it, including Miss K. She loves to sit and watch the show with me, and I've noticed that ever since we started watching it, Miss K loves to get up and boogie whenever she hears music. And it's no longer just the bobbing of the head that she used to do, there is foot stomping, and swaying her body and moving her hands. It's too gorgeous for words, but it does fill me with a sense of dread that one day my little girl is going to ask me for dance lessons. I'm sure if I hadn't spent the better part of my teen years watching my little sisters dance and hearing my mum rant and rave about lessons and costumes and competitions I would be more excited about this, however I am very familiar with the world of dance, and have been long before anyone decided to turn it into a reality show, and that is the reason for my dread. But there is every possibility that Miss K has rhythm in her blood and the decision just might be out of my hands. All I can do is wait and see. And ban her from watching dance shows. 

But for now it is very late and I probably have lots to do tomorrow, the only way I can find out is by going to bed. Stay awesome my lovely readers and thank you as always for your patience in waiting for my posts. I'm sure you always feel a sense of excitement whenever you see I've posted another one, or maybe that's just the exhaustion talking. Peace out!!