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You are here: Home / SELF LOVE & BODY IMAGE / My December happy list

My December happy list

December 12, 2018 by Molly Leave a Comment

As much as I love December I also find it one of the most stressful months of the year, mainly because there’s so much going on. Last year, for example, I organised the school Christmas fair, planned and hosted a friend’s baby shower, completed umpteenth work deadlines – on top of all the regular school festive admin / trips / plays, wrapping and card writing and present buying. By the time Christmas rolled around I was exhausted.

This year I’m taking a more laid back approach to December. I’m still busy – I’ve got a couple of exciting work projects on the go at the moment that I’ll share more of here once they’re all finalised – but I’ve become a lot better at protecting my boundaries when it comes to festive stress. I’m taking on less extra stuff this year and prioritising my family alongside my work, instead of spreading myself so thin I’m ready to snap.

So number one on my December happy list is probably “protected boundaries”, although that doesn’t feel like a tangible thing to put on a list. 

Also on my happy list this month are all the Christmas films. I bloody love a festive film (Elf for the win) and really enjoyed the new offering from Netflix starring Kurt Russell. The Christmas Chronicles has everything you need from a Christmas film – laughter, magic and sentimentality. We watched it with Si’s parents and all three generations of the family enjoyed it.

Other things I’m loving this month are: this night owl duvet (pictured above) by the Fine Bedding Company – soft and cosy, it doubles up as a sofa duvet, a throw or a great spare duvet option for a guest room; these shearling chunky hiker boots by Boohoo (pictured below) – warm, comfortable and with a grungy feel, I’ve worn them pretty much every day since buying them; and this Botanics facial oil by Boots – put on last thing at night for a lovely bit of TLC for your face.

The biggest change in our house over the past two weeks has been the completed living room redecoration – we’ve totally transformed the room with newly painted walls, new flooring, new lighting, new rugs and cushions, new curtains and a newly revamped fireplace. I’ll do a before and after post if I get the time, but in the meantime check out my Instagram Stories if you’d like to see what it looks like!

As someone whose favourite show on TV as a kid was Changing Rooms, the space I live in has always been really important for me. Even when I had no budget, living as a student in a shared house, I gave up the last week of my uni holidays to go and paint my new bedroom with leftover paint donated by my parents, and make homemade candle holders out of empty jam jars. I feel like the home takes on an even more important quality at winter, when we go into hibernation mode during the short, dark months. So the new living room and nearly completed dining room are making me really happy at the moment.

Finally, I’ve found a new routine of work in the past couple of weeks and although I’m not sure it’s got legs forever, it’s working for now. I’ve been getting up at 5am to get a couple of hours work in before the kids wake up, which means my evening are free to do other stuff like see friends, wrap presents and chill out in front of some good TV. Again, I’m not saying it’s how I’ll work forever (I really like my sleep), but it’s working for now.

What’s made your happy list this month?

 

 

 

Filed Under: SELF LOVE & BODY IMAGE Tagged With: beauty, boots, cosy, facial oil, fashion, happy list, hibernation, skincare, winter solstice

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Hello and welcome! I'm Molly Forbes - podcaster, presenter and blogger with a passion for positivity, confidence and body image chat. Regularly writing and vlogging about empowering female issues from a motherhood angle, I also cover lifestyle and fashion topics for like-minded mums who want to rediscover themselves after having children. Thanks for stopping by! Read More…

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If you feel bad about your body you’re less like If you feel bad about your body you’re less likely to do nice things for it, including moving in a way that feels good and eating in a way that feels good. (FYI health is about more than just exercise and nutrition, but let’s get deeper into the exercise thing for a second...)
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Research shows kids who have low body image are less likely to get involved with sports and more likely to skip PE. 
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Want kids to move more? Stop teaching them that one type of body is better than another - because if their body doesn’t look like your version of a healthy / beautiful / successful body not only will they be more likely to feel shame over their body, they’ll be less likely to engage with the very behaviours you want them to do more of (or be more likely to engage with them in an UNhealthy way - compulsive exercise is dangerous).
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Instead:
💕Try talking about the intrinsic benefits of exercise over the extrinsic ones (ie. how it makes you FEEL instead of how it makes you LOOK).
✨Create opportunities for movement where ALL children feel welcome. 
💕Show children diverse representation so they can see sporting heroes with a range of body types and know that movement is for EVERYbody. 
✨Take a zero tolerance approach to appearance based bullying, body shaming and comments that perpetuate weight stigma (including even the hint that fat = bad). 
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(If you’re a teacher or youth leader interested in knowing more about this topic, a #BodyHappyKids workshop will help - follow the link in my bio 🥰❤️)
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[Image description: A multicoloured slide with an overlaid screenshot of tweet by Molly which reads ‘If your intention is to “get kids healthy” then you need to be aware of how weight bias, weight stigma and poor body image are active barriers to health. The end.]
Sharing this outfit pic with you because it’s a Sharing this outfit pic with you because it’s a crying shame only the piles of laundry got to see it, quite frankly. Finally, a pair of pre-loved jeans bought online that are true to size, consistent with the rest of the brand’s sizing and actually fit! 🎉 
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PS heads up - I’ll be doing a Q&A about body image and kids in my Stories on Friday. The Q sticker is up in my Stories now if you’d like to submit a Q! 💕 #BodyHappyKids
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[Image description: Molly is standing in front of the mirror looking very pleased with the fact her new jeans bought from Depop fit her. She is wearing pink patterned jeans with cherubs on them, a pink check jumper and pink trainers. There are piles of laundry on the bed behind her.]
Another photo of us on a walk, because it’s been Another photo of us on a walk, because it’s been our main form of entertainment this year. Anyone else? 
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I honestly now get excited about putting my boots on and being outdoors, even in the rain. I’m going to start hugging trees next and going on wild camping weekends that involve doing a poo behind a tree and making my own fire. Joke.... maybe. 
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Just another reminder that all movement is valid, exercise doesn’t need to have to be about burning calories or even tracking steps in order for it to be “worth it”. Hope everyone’s had a great weekend ❤️
#BodyHappyMum #JoyfulMovement
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Image description: Molly and her two daughters stand on a bridge in the countryside. They are all wearing hiking boots and outdoor clothes and smiling.
My body is good and excellent and my body only bel My body is good and excellent and my body only belongs to me ✨ (Words by Effie May, age 6 💕) #BodyHappyMum
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Image description: A close up of Molly’s bare skin as she hugs herself. It’s dark and part of her body is illuminated by light. She has her eyes closed and is smiling.
“Mummy I wrote a letter to myself,” she said. “Mummy I wrote a letter to myself,” she said. And my heart swelled. Maybe I’m doing an OK job after all 🤞❤️💕 #BodyHappyKids 
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I could leave this caption here but I need to make something clear: if you think it’s great that my daughter - a thin, white, nondisabled, cisgender kid - feels good in her body but you’re not here for the self-love of any kid who doesn’t look like her.... then you’ve missed the point.
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ALL bodies are good bodies, and without this important piece of the puzzle ALL children will be at risk of doubting their body. And what happens when they doubt their body? Well... hating our body doesn’t make us treat it with love, and the same is true of kids. 
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Great, now we’ve cleared that up, can we take a moment to appreciate the incredible phonetic spelling on show here?! 
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Image description: Effie, age 6, stands against a white wardrobe holding up a letter she has written to herself. It is spelled phonetically and reads “My body is good and excellent and my body only belongs to me.”
I used to struggle to buy stuff for myself if I ha I used to struggle to buy stuff for myself if I had any spare cash - not just treats, but basics like pants and tights that fit properly. I’d tell myself I didn’t need it, didn’t deserve it, couldn’t justify the expense. There’s still that little voice (the habit of putting everyone else’s needs first and my own last dies hard it seems) but I’m leaning into exploring why it still sometimes rears its head, instead of always listening to it. 
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I’m trying to buy as much as I can from pre-loved places or small businesses these days, which is why I’m very happy to share with you some of my latest finds: a star dress from Depop (£5), earrings from @kelzojewellery by @ourtransitionallife (£12) and the comfiest tights I’ve ever owned in Raspberry Pie by @snagtights (£6.99) 💕💕💕
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Have you found any great small brands lately? Shout them out in the comments so we can all support in the run up to Christmas. ⬇️⚡️
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Image description: Molly is smiling and sticking out her tongue to the camera. Her hair is freshly dyed a light shade of pink. She’s wearing a pink t’shirt underneath a black and white star patterned slip dress, with bright pink tights and black and pink earrings decorated with a boob design.
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