Spice up your February

Mums Tips

Published on Monday, 30 January 2023 10:56

Last Updated on 13 January 2023

Madeleine

0 Comments

Curating your life – continued from my blog series – just to get us through this dismal patch… This is February! I reject the cynics who say that organising fun stuff and posting beautiful photos is ‘Insta-vanity’. Rather it’s an antidote to gloomy thoughts and even depression. It’s our own form of self-medication, a conscious choice to embrace the light. So chocks away and let’s create some more UPlift.

Card Day

Make, yes MAKE, Valentine’s cards for family and besties, with stickers, glitter, and a unique heart-felt message. Express your gladness that they are in your life. It could also be an opportunity to take stock of those who don’t bring you gladness and think about gently letting them go.

 

GP/Health Day

Address all those malingering health issues, the stubborn infection, the squeaky knee, the eyesight, the teeth. Look. After. Yourself.

 

Craft Day

Start a craft with your children, learning together. My daughter wants to start knitting to keep her hands busy and take her mind off dark thoughts. So we are planning a trip to Sewing Rooms in Putney. ‘We don’t even know how to cast on though…’ I said. ‘It’s all on Youtube’, she assured me. Take time to plan what you’re going to make, because any creation involves hundreds of decisions. I’m thinking a patchwork jumper with discrete squares which get woven together at the end. Then, when one goes wrong, it’s minimal unpick, with a Total-Discard option too. Aim: shapeless-hippie-grunge. Perfect for Glasto 🙂

Wardrobe Day

Scan the Vogue SS23 Top 10 trends (Spring-Summer 23). Organise your wardrobe so your pre-existing trending stuff is together and accessible, with labels, making a note of what you could add, and having a chuckle at what you wouldn’t be seen dead in. I can spend a happy evening not only labelling but writing about each piece, why I bought it, where, for how much, what adaptations I have done and occasions where I have worn it.

Letter Day

Do you have a childhood/Uni chum in a health nightmare, or far-flung family? Write them a long, long, newsy letter full of punch and fun, filling in the gaps where the Insta leaves off.

 

Outing Day

Book your partner/bestie/besties in for an low-cost experience, something surprising or quirky like a comedy club night. I run a Breadboard Museum in Putney where people from all over the world often gather to enjoy the company of their family and friends over a Cream Tea with a difference.

 

Read this Metro article about my museum and odd job.

 

Neighbours Day

With the Coronation fast approaching, how about testing the waters re a street party? Can be low-key, just BYO food, drink and furniture. If you’re tight-knit already, getting some bunting up would make the street look really special, but it’s quite a to-do. Make verrry sure it’s higher that the exhaust pipe of your rubbish truck! We had our first street party for the Jubilee last year and now have a WhatsApp group where we welcome newborns and newcomers, confer about Council issues and swap tradesmen intel.

Spring is around the corner!