The children are still on school holidays but I’m back in work mode this week, and while I have a couple of writing-related jobs on the go I’m mostly doing some reading and thinking about what I’d like to write about this year.

Finding the time will be a challenge, I need a bit more time free to read and think, neither of them income-producing activities or clearly offering benefit to the running of things at home in any way. It makes me happier though, and that’s something everyone in my family appreciates! And I trust it will make me more efficient a writer in the long run.

I like something Pope Emeritus Benedict wrote about leisure, that it’s not ‘nothing’ but a different kind of work. Last week our family went to the Blue Mountains to spend a few days on a camp with some other families. The packing to go away, alone, is no mean logistical feat (see the pic above). It was a week of leisure that certainly tired us all out, but it was very worthwhile!

I notice that Holly Pierlot, author of the excellent Mother’s Rule of Life book and website has announced that she’ll soon be providing some new resources. I’ve appreciated her work for a long time, which is aimed at encouraging stressed out or overwhelmed mothers to find their own unique (and sustainable) happy place by prioritising in order five principles she calls ‘P’s: Prayer, Person, Partner, Parent, Provider. I look forward to seeing them and trying them out.

In the meantime at our place soon there’ll be school shoes to purchase and hair cuts to be had. One daughter wants her ears pierced too, in time for her February birthday. My husband, who’s home, will probably take them to the shopping centre some time today but they’ll probably watch a movie. I’m not going to push my luck by asking him to take five children shoe shopping! We don’t always have all five children at home on a holiday day, with separate play dates and holiday activities etc, so maybe I should join them.

I hope you enjoy your day! Each one is such a gift.