Today is Blue Monday. Apparently, the third Monday in January is the one when we’re all at our lowest. It’s still some way to pay day, the weather is usually awful, the days still dark and our New Year Resolutions are well and truly broken.

(c) condesign via pixabay

Certainly, when I was teaching, the beginning of the January term was always a bit of a slog. No primary teacher really recovers from the hectic Christmas term. The holiday seems too short and is filled with jobs of another kind. Then, too soon after new year, it’s back to work. January’s weather doesn’t help. Cold, dark and usually rainy means lots of wet plays. Occasionally snow. Never quite enough to keep you at home but enough to make the drive to school nerve-wracking and the children impossible to teach as they are so excited. It always seemed a very long time until half term!

One of the many very wise women I taught with made a suggestion. We were discussing how to keep spirits up at this time of year while patrolling the playground during another dreary duty. Here’s what the inestimable Llinos had to say.

In January, treat yourself to mini home pamper sessions. Pour a glass of chilled wine and take a long bubble bath. Give yourself a pedicure and paint your toenails a vibrant colour. Massage in some rich body cream. Use a fake tan. Give your hair a deep moisturising treatment. You get the idea.

To all those wonderful suggestions, I can add one of my own; why not read a really good book? Calorie-free for those of you dieting and value for money. The dark evenings and cold days of January are perfect for getting lost in a good read!

(Speaking of value for money, I recently paid £3.29 for a latte. You can get a really good e-book for far less. There’s something wrong with this!)

What do you do to get through the dark days of winter? Get in touch and share. I’d love to hear them.

Love,

Georgia x