“2020 has definitely been one of those years!”
I overheard someone say that in the supermarket the other day and it made me smile. One of those years? If that is the case, I don’t remember having anything like this year in my lifetime. A bit of an understatement methinks.
And it feels like the bad news keeps on coming. The news is filled with doom and gloom and if I am honest, I am so fed up with it now, I have stopped watching. I have stopped looking at statistics and news reports, I think we have all reached saturation point. Then people start talking about 2021 being even worse and I really want to throw all my toys out of the pram and have a proper tantrum.
We haven’t even reached 2021 yet and people are trying to write it off.
Enough. We need to look forward and focus on the good things in life. Yes, we need to be careful, we need to make sensible choices, but that doesn’t mean that we have to be miserable and sorry for ourselves.
Christmas is around the corner and the New Year after that and we, as a family, are making the most of the little things in life and these are the things that I intend to do over the next two weeks to get to 2021 which I am certain will be a much better year.
Baking
We love a bit of baking in this house and though I am no Mary Berry, I will try my hand at most things and it is amazing what you can do even with the basics in your store cupboard. I am hoping to add some new things to my repertoire next year but over the festive period, we will be having our annual Christmas bake off, where we all bake something completely different to see who will be crowned Bake Off champion of the year. There are going to be some daring entries this year, so I am going to have to work hard if I want to win. Having said that, we have a house full of lovely food for a few days, so we are all winning. And I love that my kids all share a love of baking. They might not know how to cook a meal when they leave home but they all do good cakes and brownies.
Shopping
One thing that I have discovered in 2020 is that online shopping is not only easier but there is so much choice out there. You don’t have to automatically reach for those larger better-known retailers who dominate the online market. I have sources all of my Christmas presents this year from a wide range of sites from unique handmade gifts to boutiques with the most incredible clothing and accessory ranges and of course, there are always new sites to discover, like Chums, which feature a fantastic range of clothing and homewares. The key is to take time to shop around and don’t always go for the shops at the top of your search listings.
Reading
Well, I say reading, but actually this year’s reading list has been mostly audio books and they have been a revelation to me. I love reading but rarely have the time to read actual books. Discovering audio books has been a real game changer. I can listen in the car, with my headphones in at bedtime or even using a smart speaker while I am doing chores. I have listened to a wide range of books and I love it. Even better has been discovering the BorrowBox App which is a library app. You sign in using your local library number and you can borrow ebooks or audio books in the same way as you would normal library books. You can borrow books for four weeks, extend if they are still available and reserve titles. It is brilliant and completely free.
Walking
I have blogged a lot this year about our gorgeous Labrador and one of the best things about having a dog is the amount of walks we go on with her. Even on the coldest, bleakest days, a good long walk with Liberty is just the thing to make us all feel better. We have also discovered some amazing walks around our home town too, places and walks I never knew before and it is amazing to discover more about the place we live rather than constantly bombing around to different places in the car.
Playing games
We are a family who love playing board games and over the years, we have amassed quite a collection. But it is the oldest that we tend to love the most such as the old classics like Monopoly or Trivial Pursuit. Newer contenders are 5 Second Rule or Uno which we all love equally and this year, we are going to try and not get too competitive with a few family games nights planned.
There will be no New Year’s Resolutions this year, just a hope that things can and will get better for the year ahead. In the meantime, it is important to enjoy the peace and quiet that these two weeks should bring and enjoy having time with the people we are allowed to see. We can do this and we can keep going and carry on until 2021.
This is a collaborative post
That sounds like a very wise way to use the last few days of 2020 (and the first few days of 2021!). Walking is the best thing, as is reading. Audiobooks sound like a great idea.
2021 can’t possibly be worse than 2020 as we have the vaccine, which will start to make an impact around March when a good proportion of the most vulnerable people have been vaccinated. We’re going to have a tough few weeks until then, though. I dip in and out of the news, but mainly I make myself watch because if we’re not aware of how bad things are, it is all too easy to become complacent about the rules. Sadly my own recent experiences have brought home to me just how bad things are and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.
Sarah MumofThree World recently posted…Parkrun triumphs 2020