It’s been a while since I posted, and it’s been good. The Christmas break with the kids was weirdly wonderful. We really didn’t do anything much at all, and my usually itchy feet were perfectly content in my warm slipper socks!

I struggled with the first couple of days off, when work was still going on, and I was just an email bystander. But then I just thought ‘feck it’ – what exactly is going to go so disastrously wrong if I just don’t do anything right now? Answer – nothing.

And so I lazed. Well, it’s all relative. I was still out of bed most mornings before 7am, but it was to pad downstairs, turn on the Christmas lights and make hubby and I a mug of tea, which was promptly brought back to bed for duvet snuggles and 10,sometimes even 15, minutes of quiet time before the kids came bounding in.

And in they did bound. We had more morning cuddles than I can remember, with no rush to get up, get dressed, get out the door… I was sad yesterday when I finally accepted that they were coming to an end on a daily basis.

And we argued. And shouted. And coloured. And played with trains, and planes. Hubby baked – lots and lots of delicious chocolate treats. And we ate them all. Greedily. Happily. With no worries.

We watched movies. And CBeebies. We sang badly. And often.

And as I started to think about the year ahead, and all that I would like to achieve, three words kept popping back up at me.

Be Here Now.

There is always something else. Somewhere else. Something bigger. Better. More demanding of my attention. But most of it is bollocks.

I will be happier and less stressed – at home, at work, with myself, my friends and my family, if I can just find the way to simply Be Here Now. Wherever and whenever that ‘here’ is.