Life as a SEN mum

My last post mentioned briefly how I personally struggle with the change in seasons. It seemed only right that I spoke about it in the hope that I can either help someone else, or that someone might be able to give their own tips to help myself and others who really struggle through Autumn and Winter.

I know there are people who absolutely love the colder months. For me, as much as I do love Halloween and Christmas, the colder, darker months really do have an impact on my overall mental health.

Now, don’t get me wrong there are some lovely pieces when it comes to winter fashion. But, I personally hate big bulky clothing, the layering, the wearing your body weight in clothing and several layers of thermal clothing just to try to stay even slightly warm. I know I wouldn’t hold up well in truly cold countries. It makes going anywhere even trickier, what do you need for the weather outside? Are you going to be inside and then end up having to carry all these different layers around?

Then there is having to get up and ready earlier to de ice the car, as if it isn’t already difficult enough to find that get up and go at 5am when it’s pitch black and it still being dark come 8am for the school run. Then having to go out absolutely freezing, with so many layers I probably resemble Stay-Puft, having to de ice the car and it ultimately steaming up when we all get in the car. It just doesn’t really set you up for the day ahead.

I know this probably just sounds like me moaning about the weather, and would I be able to say I’m British if I didn’t moan about the weather? All jokes aside though, I know I’m not the only one who suffers. I recently did a TikTok post on the topic, asking for advice on how to try to beat the blues at this time of year and did receive some helpful answers. Lots of messages in my inbox suggesting SAD lamps, which I will definitely have to invest in I reckon. I’ve also heard it can help kids who don’t sleep well, so that’s an extra reason to try one out. But other suggestions varied from hyper focusing on the things you do enjoy about the season to simply keeping busy. I know sometimes keeping busy is easier said than done, but I think the key is probably to keep busy doing things you enjoy, not just keeping busy doing things that really don’t give that dopamine hit, to help boost your overall mood and then trigger that motivation boost that we need.

If you have any tips that work to combat the winter blues be sure to share them in the comments below or share them across my socials. Hopefully together we can help eliminate the winter blues.

** As always your support is much appreciated. Feel free to head to https://ko-fi.com/kateboardman to show your support and allow me to keep bringing tips, tricks, reviews and generally sharing our journey with you**