2012: the year of change

2011 went out in much the same way that it came in: DH and I were in bed, were disturbed briefly by what appeared to be a re-enactment of The Blitz, but which turned out to be very enthusiastic neighbourhood fireworks, then fell back to sleep. The only difference was that this year we were in someone else’s bed. And for the record, I made that sound waaaay saucier than it actually was: I refer merely to the fact that DH and I were spending New Year in Brussels on our very first house-exchange (again, not smutty.)

It’s almost impossible to believe that 2011 lasted 365 days. There were moments when it felt like it was never going to end. There were also moments when I stood still and watched my Girls and wondered how they had managed to grow so quickly in such a short space of time. Should you need any proof of this, just take a look at them. I definitely started the year with a toddler and a baby, but I’m ending it with a toddler and a Little Big Girl. Cots have been banished from our house, to be replaced with beds, shared bedrooms, shared bedtimes. And tonight my Dimples Assassin declared that she would in future only wear pants (of course she then weed on the floor several times in thirty minutes, so I’m hopeful that she’ll have forgotten all about potty training tomorrow, but it won’t be far off, I’m sure.)

There is a large skip parked in our driveway, too. It will be filled with what remains of our dodgy carport before the end of the week. I look at it and I feel a sense of loathing: it’s a big, dented, ugly, yellow metal dustbin. I resent the space that it takes on the drive. I hate being able to see into it; being able to see our lives, to some degree, in the weather-beaten, broken, scarred, chipped, dented and broken-beyond-repair bits and pieces that have found their way into it thus far. And yet it’s presence here is a sign of better things to come. For once the detritus of our lives, the contents of our shed, the foundations of the World’s Least Waterproof Lean-To have been removed, there will be fresh concrete. There will be new foundations. A new useful structure to replace an old useless one.

I imagine, as one can when one has barely made a dent on the year, that this is really a metaphor for the year ahead. 2011 was the year of better. I was desperate to not feel so desperate, tired, worn. And when I look back to where I was mentally this time a year ago, I can see that 2011 was the year where I started to turn a corner. I ended the year getting often unbroken sleep for a full eight hours. I started the year crippled with pain and ended it knowing that I had walked 13.1 miles to raise money for a good cause. I started needing purpose, wanting to be a better blogger and ended it as one of the Top 100 UK Parent Blogs, 2011. These things have combined to make me feel like a better human being: I do more fun things with the Girls than I used to, partly for the blog but partly because we enjoy it. It’s often so much fun that I end up blogging about it. And all of this has had a positive effect on our home life. I’m not saying that I don’t have a long way to go, but I am in better shape than I was last January.

Which brings me to this January. And the skip. And the changes that are coming. I have to walk the dangerous path through the terrible twos, navigate potty training…we may even bid farewell to the pushchairs. This September LBG will start Reception and DA will join her at school in the Kindergarten. Our house will change with not one, but two builds taking place at either end of the year (*crosses fingers and mutters prayers to God of Planning Applications*) I would like to work on putting PND in the skip, and perhaps spend a bit more time on my oft-neglected DH who, worryingly, has actually started signing cards and texts with those two letters.

The blog itself should go through a change soon too. Liz at Violet Posy is tinkering with her almost perfect (and memorable, judging from the comments I get when I meet other bloggers & readers) design and it got me thinking about the content, more than anything. What do you like about Domestic Goddesque? What do you dislike, for that matter? Is there anything you would change? Is there something I write about that you’d like to see more of? Do you have any criticism, positive or other, of the blog layout? Let me know what you think, and help start the Ball of Change rolling!!