January's Quiet Time

 After spending four months of running extremely busy daily routines, January is a relatively slow month around Porter South. It is truly a bless-ED month! From August to New Years our family is sprinting towards some unseen goal. The beginning of school and Friday night football games with the band. Mr. P's October deadlines and the State Fair of Texas Competitions. Jared keeps his head down plowing through college classes, internships and part-time jobs. I don't even want to think of all Elizabeth has going on and then it's as if we are on one fast slippery ride from Halloween to Christmas! So yes I say HELLO JANUARY!...with much anticipation and longing. 

  The first week in January is set aside for a much needed relaxing breather. We read, watch movies...new and old...NAP, take long walks, eat homemade soup, snuggle in front of the fire, play games, enjoy the company of our children and friends and Mr. P puts together his yearly puzzle. There is a lot to be said for the "art of doing nothing". In fact, I can do "nothing" very well....no remarks please! I have never understood people that don't know how to sit still and just BE. I wrote about this last month. Mr. P and I really look forward to this one specific week with much anticipation. I am married to a self-employed CPA. He has his own CPA practice and there is something ALWAYS going on there. This is the beginning of his busiest time of year. We try to carve out some time for quiet, uninterrupted moments alone. We know going into the tax season is always stressful for not only Mr. P but me as well.

  Later in the month of January I find it is  a good time to tackle some much needed organization in our home. I try to choose 1 organizing project for each room in the house. I'm not sure how it happens but every year as we are busy in the Fall of the year things get lost, messy and disorganized. This year I have chosen 3 drawers in the kitchen and 2 in my bathroom. These drawers somehow become the graveyard for all loose ends in the house. Silver mesh drawer organizers from the container store are perfect for keeping kitchen tools, office supplies and make-up clutter free and easily accessible. I plan on going through E's closet to pull out clothes she no longer wears setting them aside for donation and our linen closet needs a once over, it is an awful mess. I'm sure due to many late-night sleepovers with E's friends packed in our home.

 Slow down and spend some extra quiet time with your family, letting them know how important and loved they are....squeeze them tight! These are the stolen moments your children will remember, time mom and dad spent with them. Organizing and work can wait, your babies will be gone in a flash and you will never be able to recapture those moments...take the time now.