Back to school vibes...

Or tips on how to survive that sinking feeling that September brings

I’ve just returned from holiday and I’d like to say it was really joyful and relaxing but with two relatively young children it felt like a fucking trial. I am writing this from my bed and both of my feet are covered in blisters and bandages. There is about four loads of washing to do. One kid has sunburn. The other is just cranky from all the late nights. Then September is just about to kick off in earnest. No hang on it has actually kicked off.

It’s time to get back to work/school/routines. Soon the TV ads will be about Christmas turkeys.

I always find September hard as I tend to have unrealistic expectations in terms of what summer will be like (especially holidays and how we want them to be perfect and have to adjust our expectations as we go), and so when the summer is finished I feel unsatisfied. A bit sad too. September signals the new school term, new routines, and new sources of work (this is often when projects start to kick off again in qualitative research which is my bread and butter and how I make a living). There are also satisfying elements like the idea that it’s a bit like January and you can turn over a new leaf and form good habits.

On the plane home I realised I was starting to get that sinking feeling, the feeling that the good stuff was over and there was nothing to look forward. I realised I needed to put some things in place to help myself survive okay.