Helloooooooo! I'm back home again, giving you all a gentle little wave from the Attic window. We were away last week, off on our usual Summer trip down to Dorset to spend time with my folks. It was a much needed holiday in more ways than one, a break from routine, and a chance for me personally to rest and recharge my rather flat batteries. I made the decision to disconnect myself physically and mentally from the internet last week and took a complete break from technology (save for a few quick snaps shared to Instagram). It felt good (and necessary) I must say, and I feel much better for taking a good rest.
Dorset was as lovely as ever, such a tonic to be beside the sea and have nothing much of an agenda for the week. Easy, lazy days, outings taken on a whim according to the weather and also (unusually for us) a couple very low-key days where we did absolutely nothing at all. On those two days (which were wet and cold) we just stayed put indoors and chilled out. It felt strange to do this actually, but the Little People seemed happy with their electronics and J and I spent time chatting and reading. Sometimes it's surprisingly hard to slow right down and accept that it's perfectly ok to just take it gently every once in a while and do very little.
As you can see, the wet stay-in days were indeed balanced rather nicely by some gorgeous sunshiny days where we did get out and about and made the most of being outdoors. I'll share some more pictures with you in the next few days, I do really enjoy recording our holidays with words and pictures, preserving the memories for future pondering.
Now do you want to hear something surprising???
Weeellll...........for the first time in a very long time (talking years here)...........I am not (I repeat, NOT) suffering from any post holiday blues. EH???? How does that work then????!!! Not sure to be honest, but I am thankful. On our last day in Dorset I found myself all of a sudden really looking forward to being home again, which pretty much hasn't ever happened before. Even though our house is messy and chaotic, there is also rather a huge dollop of cosy, homely comfort within these four walls, and I was craving it. I am glad to be back home.
We are at the start of a three week period now where I will be home with the Little People whilst J is at work and as a result I am honing my multi tasking skillz. I am pretty good with the whole juggling thing though, and so far (half way through day three) all has been going well. I am making simple lists to keep me on track, balancing out basic housework (the bare minimum), laundry, food shopping, baking, cooking, de-cluttering (a little each day), child-led activities (a lot each day it seems, but that's ok), small outings (to buy art and craft supplies, which was rather enjoyable), and work (Yarndale stuff this week as we are working on the brochure).
I am enjoying the fact that the Little Peeps are on the whole pretty good at filling their days with stuff.
Little Man is almost 13 now, a taller-than-me, athletic, quietly confident young man. He divides his days between solo time in his bedroom and being out and about with his group of buddies (a bmx bike craze has landed here), so truthfully we don't see much of him day to day. We come together for evening meals, but everything else is flexible. He tried, for the first time, to skip evening meal on Monday and I laid it down loud and clear - absolutely no way, that precious 30 minutes of family time around the table is a non-negotiable slot in an otherwise pretty flexible day. He took it well, with a quiet, accepting shrug of the shoulders.
Little Lady is 11 and spends a fair bit of time in her bedroom these days, doing her own thing. But she is also a sociable little thing, prancing about downstairs, singing, dancing, chattering away, joining in with her Little Brother whenever there is some sort of activity going on. Sometimes it will be something simple like sitting to watch a film, other times it will involve painting, colouring, hama beads or crafting. Still a lot of creativity going on daily here it seems, and I love to see it all unfold across the table tops.
Little B is 5 and still very much needing my time and attention throughout the day. I am trying to balance out his needs by encouraging him to think of activities he would like to do rather than always looking to me to organise everything for him. Yesterday he asked for the paints to come out and proceeded to paint me a rainbow which made my very happy. We also took a trip out to the supermarket to buy some fresh craft supplies (oh the joy of coloured card and glitter glues!) so there has been much snipping and gluing going on.
As for me - not much me time at the moment, but I am trying. I bought this wonderful book a few weeks ago and have only managed to read the first article so far, but it is a lovely, gentle reminder to slow down and appreciate the good of these fleeting summer days. Talking of which.....here are a few Postcards from Dorset....
.....lovely reminders of a Summer week by the sea.
Oh, it feels really good to be back here, I've missed you all! More ramblings from me soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
PS Just remembered this post from seven years ago (SEVEN!). Gosh. things change a lot and then again not so much with children....
Its lovely to just go away with no agenda and see what each day brings - I love holidays like that. I remember when my first son was 13 and those gentle shrugs of the shoulders - thanks for sharing your lovely photos with us xx
Posted by: Michelle | July 29, 2015 at 05:42 PM
Hi Lucy, I'm glad you're back and feeling refreshed from the break. I enjoyed reading about what each of your kids is up to these days. I did a double-take when I saw that your older son is almost 13. I forgot he was so "old" already. My son is going on 10 and that feels "old" enough. I'll be interested to see more about that magazine, if you're willing to share. It looks really nice. I hope you enjoy the rest of the week settling in back at home.
Posted by: Thistle | July 29, 2015 at 05:31 PM
Love this post Lucy. Remembering my holidays in Dorset years ago. Precious memories, like jewels.
Posted by: Janette Surtees | July 29, 2015 at 05:28 PM
Hang on in there with the family meals and continue when girl friends arrive on the scene. We found that although some boy or girl friends were not used to family meals they all took to it like ducks to water. Now we are grandparents and often take part in extended family meals that are full of fun and banter. I am not saying that you will not have the odd meal where someone has a tantrum and storms out but on whole we all have a good laugh AND the now husbands insisted on large dining tables in their homes - so it was worth all the work.
Posted by: Diane | July 29, 2015 at 05:23 PM
Welcome home! Your week by the sea sounds idyllic. Enjoy the rest of the summer. Whatever the weather!
Posted by: Moira McGuinness | July 29, 2015 at 05:20 PM
Glad you had a lovely time, and thanks for sharing your seaside pictures. We haven't made it to the beach yet this summer so it is lovely to see the sand and the sunshine. I can almost smell the salty air and hear the seagulls ... {happy sigh} xx
Posted by: Winwick Mum | July 29, 2015 at 05:11 PM
We've missed you too!! Glad you had a good break!!
Posted by: Susan M | July 29, 2015 at 05:06 PM