Christmas has finally arrived at Happy Coulson, following a thoroughly festive weekend in Norwich. It was so lovely to see all the lights and feel the excitement in the air but it was also wonderful to get back to our little French oasis of calm, where Christmas has to be created by us.

Christmas makingOn our way home we stopped to spend the children’s Christmas decoration budget – 10€ each kindly donated by Nanny. After looking around long and hard at all the brightly coloured plastic, they decided they would rather buy a pack of 24 plain wooden shapes to decorate themselves. There followed a whole Wednesday of Christmas crafting.

Having our children at home every Wednesday (French children currently don’t go to school on Wednesdays) is a mixed blessing. If I’m totally honest, sometimes it’s downright inconvenient. If I am teaching private yoga lessons or have a meeting then Chris can’t get on with any big renovation jobs as he has to look after the kids.

I am at the stage now where I could be working a lot more. My business brain is urging me to expand into the gaps I still have in my working week: “Go on. You’ll be spreading the yoga love AND earning more money, very useful when you’re hoping to take the kids skiing in March…”.

But why? I’m pretty sure I have, for the first time ever, found a true balance between work and life. This is something many people strive for and I always wondered whether I would even know if I achieved it. Well I did. The other day when I was collecting kindling in one of my spare moments, I made a conscious decision NOT to start another class. We’re fine, we don’t need any more money at the moment. Thank goodness my Happy Coulson Head is louder than my Business Brain. Roll on next Wednesday – I smell mince pies…

Filed under: Happy Coulson

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