December was my favourite month of 2019

Scrolling through my 2019 Instagram grid is nothing short of bewildering. I spent the first seven months of the year pregnant, and the last five months hanging out with my magical son. My husband and I applied for a mortgage in early February, began house hunting in mid-February, bought a house in early April, and moved in June. It’s been the ultimate glow up, I’m forever grateful.

Upon reflecting on the year, I find myself saying things like “August was just one long day,” and “being nine months pregnant in the summer was awful” and “work was nuts right up until I went on leave”. The months and seasons of 2019 appear in blips and flashes when I try and reflect, I’ve barely had time to process it all.

This is probably why December was my favourite month of the year. I finally had a chance to slow down and soak life in. My son was four and five months old in December. A baby who is ultra cute, who sleeps, giggles, rolls over and smiles. I feel like I’m getting used to this whole mom thing, I’m in a routine with my mat leave and I’ve enjoyed hibernating at home.

December is normally… not my favourite. The sun sets at 5 p.m., it’s cold, it’s busy, it’s expensive, it’s exhausting. I’m usually working on a holiday campaign at work, frantically wrapping things up for the year, dragging myself to the next holiday lunch, distractedly drinking wine while my to-do list lurks in my brain. But for the first time in forever I’m not working this month, which allowed for an entirely new perspective. Turns out the holidays can be pretty magical when we’re given a chance to stop and smell the pine trees. So this year, I loved December.

I look forward to starting a new decade in a couple days with the knowledge that a change in routine can have a major impact on your perspective. Life will once again look completely different in a year, in ten years, and it’s impossible to predict exactly how it will change.