First accomplishment of 2011: Getting back to reality

Were you ready for today, the mother of all Mondays?

Before I went to bed last night, I set the table for breakfast, found gloves and hats for each child, packed my own briefcase with teaching materials, and took a deep breath.

After all the festivities are over, and a precious week of sleeping in and lazing about are through, getting back to the swing of things should be counted as the year’s first accomplishment.

I think the anticipation of returning to the grind is worse than going through with it.

My husband, after being off for almost two weeks, started getting the back to life jitters the night before New Year’s Eve. He tossed and turned, just couldn’t sleep. What was keeping him up? Thoughts of new projects and evaluations waiting for him back at work.  And, that first day back, today, happens to be his birthday.

So, to those of you with early January birthdays, I salute you. You must find some way to get back to the grind on your special day in a month that can be the dreariest of the entire calendar.  You still have a right to celebrate when others around you are all wrung out from nearly a month of holiday celebrations.

Over the years, I have felt kind of sorry for my husband to have a January 3 birthday. He was not a New Year’s Baby. He did not, as late December babies do, save his parents a load in taxes. January 3 birthdays can be easily overlooked.

But, I won’t overlook it. I consider it my mission each year to keep that festive feeling going for his birthday with cards from the kids, presents, a great meal and a cake! (I hope he’s not reading this, or the surprise is ruined.)

If you are feeling the post holiday blues, and you lack a January birthday in your family, try these activities or thoughts on for size:

• Every day, the sun is rising a bit earlier and setting a bit later. Yesterday had less daylight than today, and tomorrow the light will last longer than today.
• Celebrate the gradual return of light by getting out just a bit every day, no matter the temperature. Bundle up. It will do wonders for body and spirit.
• Start some seedlings. If you miss your garden as much as I do in the winter, starting seedlings gives your fingers a way to play in some dirt, even if the ground outside is frozen solid. Stay tuned for my future blog posts where I will share with you all the triumphs (and sometimes failures) of the vegetables and flower seedlings I start inside to get a jump on spring.

Getting back to my husband and his birthday. I was happy to hear from him that today was not as stressful as he feared, and at lunch today, his team remembered his birthday and got him a cake.

Day one of back-to-life 2011: Looking pretty good so far.