The December Slump

I see your 3pm slump and I will raise you a December slump.

There is a bit of a contradiction going on at the moment.  The kids are slightly more hyper than usual, if that is even possible, yet harder to get out of the bed in the morning.

When I say harder, I mean normally they are the first ones up.  I haven’t had to set an alarm clock in years. 

A couple of mornings ago, however, my eyes popped open at 7.28am.

Yikes!

The December slump has hit. 

The boys didn’t wake until almost 8am and I had to rouse Lovely Liam after that again. 

What’s more, they were in bed and asleep well before 8pm the night before.

Our earliest riser would be up at 6.30am. His step outside my bedroom door on his way downstairs always wakes me up.  Across the landing, Smallest Boy usually hears too but will lie quietly for a few minutes.

Lovely Liam will put in a curly, shaggy haired appearance twenty minutes later but it is Oldest Boy who needs to be woken at the last minute due to his night owl reading and Lego playing habits. 

Did I mention the December slump?

I think everyone experiences this in some shape or form.

It is the end of a long year; Christmas break is looming but there are still two weeks left until the schools get their holidays.

Excitement levels over the man in the bright red suit are vomit inducing.  Countdown charts to Christmas aren’t working.  Endless adverts and countless Santa’s in the shops just add to the confusion that the day everyone is talking about still isn’t here. 

We are waking up to the dark and going to bed in the dark.  The lights are put on at 4.30pm.  Food is of the comfort variety and if you are anything like me, exercise has taken a back seat.

The kids are going to school, coming home, doing homework, eating, going to bed, getting up the next day and repeating steps one through to five.

It does become a bit monotonous.

And of course everyone is saving and watching their pennies because goodness knows Santa isn’t cheap.

So you can see where the December slump comes in.

It’s not unusual to feel a bit low at this time of year.  Add to that common ailments like winter colds and the odd cough.

If our minds are not crying out for a break, our bodies certainly are.

My sister told me she notices it year in year out in her crèche.  The kids get cranky, hyper and just harder to manage.

On a sub-conscious level they know the year end is nigh and they need a break.

At the time of writing this, I had bathed the boys, made hot chocolates, read bedtime stories and tucked them in.   All before 8pm.

Even Oldest Boy isn’t roaming about on the landing as is his usual wont.

All four of them were out for the count within minutes.

Catching up to do it all over again tomorrow. In the meantime we will just continue as normal because what else can we do?

In an attempt to bring the festive feeling a bit closer, this evening we had some Christmas chocolates and we chatted about where we would put the tree.

The December slump might be upon us, but I will do my best not to let it win.