What 2014 taught me

Hello. I’m back.  *Taps the screen enthusiastically*

I made the decision that this Christmas was going to be all about real life and spending some quality time with friends and family and it was easier than I thought.  In fact, I was surprised to find it harder than expected to switch the laptop back on.  But I have been reading through lots of end of the year review posts and beginning of the year plan posts and here I am.

So 2014 has gone.  It was a roller coaster of a year with sadly more lows than highs but I am not one to dwell, I have simply put it all behind me and we are all feeling better for a lovely break and prepared for a positive year ahead.

However with another year having passed, have I learnt anything from the last twelve months.  Well I think I have, so here goes;

I can bake.  I sit and watch the Bake Off every summer and enjoy the wonderful creations.  Over recent years, I have slowly increased my repertoire of cakes and bakes and this year I have tried lots of new recipes and a lot of them have been successful.  They might not always look perfect but I do love baking and find it very therapeutic and as long as it tastes good, that is fine with me.  2015 will not be the year of baking and I intend of putting my rather large collection of cookery books to better use.

I love cycling.  We went to Center Parcs last Easter and after having eyed the bikes with suspicious disdain, when I got back on my bike after many years, I really enjoyed it.  So much so that I bought myself a cheap bike and although it is not a daily habit yet, I am working on it and I am hoping to do a lot more cycling this year.

I’m rubbish at crochet.  I bought a book, a crochet hook and some wool and thought that I would be popping out granny squares in minutes.  That was sadly not the case. I found it really difficult and however many books I read and tutorials I watched, I could not get it right.  I gave up but will try again this year as I spend hours on Pinterest gazing at lovely crochet projects and would love to be able to make something nice.

Minecraft may well be educational but it is wildly addictive and causes my ten year old son to transform into a mindless muppet who can hear and see nothing except for whatever is happening on the screen in front of him.  Oh and of course there is always another level to complete and a game that is nearly finished.

However hard I try, I cannot stop the children from kicking balls around the house.  I am learning to adapt to life with balls constantly flying around my head and my house.  There is no point buying anything breakable such as nice picture frames or ornaments as I will only get upset when they get broken.  The fact that my children are sporty is amazing and something to be encouraged and nurtured and so my house might not be perfect but that doesn’t matter.

My children are amazing.  I already knew that but another year has shown new strengths and new achievements and it never ceases to amaze me how fantastically clever and wonderful they are.  The teen surpassed all expectations when he achieved amazing A level results in the summer and made me so proud.  R took his swimming to a new level this year by joining the local swimming club and his commitment is incredible.  He happily gets up to do 7am swims and puts a huge amount of effort into all of his training.  L loves sport but is flourishing in his last year at primary school; filled with excitement with the new things he is learning in school.  Little A has settled so well into school and seems to have grown and changed so much in just a few recent months.

I am capable of raising an adult and one that I am extremely proud of too.  The teen is nineteen now and off to New Zealand for six months in February which is a whole other emotional roller coaster of pride and worry but I know that it will be an amazing experience for him and he will have a brilliant life-changing time.

Real life is more important than online life.  Having blogged for over three years, I have found myself spending a lot less time online over the last few months and the world didn’t end.  I still love blogging and social media and I have met some lovely people and had some great opportunities  because of it all but it is important to keep a grasp on real life and to remember that it is the most important thing.

That I am an emotional wreck when my children leave or change school.  2014 saw one starting school, one leaving school and one moving to secondary.  I was an emotional wreck and embarrassed myself let alone the children.  With another moving to secondary school this summer, I will be investing lots of tissues and some dark glasses especially for the occasion.

However hard I try, I can’t stop time.  It is frustrating but 2014 seemed to fly by.  My children are growing up so quickly and there have been so many times in the last year when I wished that I had a remote control that could pause or even rewind life occasionally, just to give me a bit more time.

Nothing stays the same.  We lose people, things change, jobs are lost, people become sick and there is nothing that you can do to stop the bad things happening.  You never know what is around the corner so the best thing is to live each day as it comes, cherish the good times, remember the good times when things are bad and hug the people you love as often as you can.

That I love photos.  I didn’t take as many photos last year as I would have liked but the ones I did take serve as a constant reminder of the good days and I intend on there being lots of those in 2015; photos and good days.

Here’s to a good year this year.