Happy New Year! Just a note from all of us at the Glass house to wish you well, and a special “I’m right there with ya” from me to all you parents who are torn between gratefulness for a few more days of family time and a growing need for everybody to get back to school and work routines before you lose your mind.

We’re starting to feel a little on top of each other over here, and it’s coming out in weird ways. This morning, some of us were up and doing while the other half, including yours truly, were lounging around in pajamas pretending there was such a thing as peace and quiet. The up-and-doing half were breaking down a million boxes from Amazon, or as we renamed it this Christmas, Santa-Zon. This included much stomping on the bubble wrap filler so the house sounded like a war zone. Clearly, this was a campaign to drive the pajama loungers into action. I’m thinking the lounging half will stay in our protest-pj’s a bit longer, thank you kindly, but we may have to get to work taking down the Christmas tree. It’s starting to bug me. We shall see.

Regardless, working together to get things back in order does count for quality family time, right? And with busy teenagers, those moments are becoming rarer. I’m grateful, even though my introverted self is longing for a little “me” time soon. The “me” time will happen—I’ll make sure of it—but these precious days count for a lot.

And… I just now snapped at a kid for interrupting these thoughts on the preciousness of parenthood. Perhaps “me” time needs to be sooner rather than later.

So, what are your go-to strategies for refueling and refreshing? I know. We all need to be knocking off the sugar. We ought to be hitting the gym or dusting off the running shoes. A few of y’all seem to have gotten Pelatons for Christmas and will be blasting those quads, while the rest will be joining other amazing fitness programs. I’ll be doing some such thing as well (not the quads, but something). However, we also need some surefire, right-this-moment, recharge strategies. Here are a few reliable ones for me:

Oxygenate. Maybe this is that gym workout for you, but what I’m really talking about is anything that gets the lungs expanding and the blood pumping, especially if it’s fun or puts you in beautiful surroundings. Dance in those protest-pj’s. Take the dog on a ramble. Jump on the park swings when nobody’s looking. Remind yourself you’re alive and blessed to see another year.

Reach out. FaceTime the friend in another state, the one who laughs at all the same movie quotes and remembers “that time when we….” Phone or text the gal you got to know this fall and plan something to do together. Girls still just want to have fun. Sometimes they just need someone to get the ball rolling.

Pamper. I’m not talking hedonistic self-indulgence, but honestly, when was the last time you treated your own body with a little kindness? For me that usually means getting my nails or hair done. If you can swing it, get a massage or a pedicure, but if post-Christmas bills make the budget tight, places like Bath & BodyWorks are having huge sales on goodies to help you have a spa-day at home. Just make sure the kids go somewhere else or they will decide to ask you a gazillion things as soon as you get into the bath tub. Even the older ones. They’ll just do it by texting you while you’re in the middle of watching Netflix on your iPad that’s propped on a chair.

Look deeper. I need my “me” time to be about more than just me. I’m tweaking my devotional time this month because while God never gets stale or stagnant, the way I approach him can. Two experiments I’m trying are to review the past day with gratitude and then, to write one sentence on my calendar that captures a memory from that day. I’m hoping that these exercises help me see that each day counts, whether the events were good, bad, or seemingly insignificant. So the sentence for today may very well be about bubble wrap explosions and stealing away to write this blog, but my hope is that this time next year, I’ll remember that I was gifted this day and that I got the chance to rejoice and be glad in it.

Happy New Year, again, my friends. Thanks for sticking with me for whatever lies ahead. Now, I really do have to get out of my pj’s.