Dear August

The last week of August

Dear August

You and I need to have a word.

It’s been playing on my mind for a couple of weeks and I’ve realised, quite frankly, that I’m not too keen on you.

This may come as a bit of a shock to you and I have thought long and hard about why I feel like this.

I really don’t want to hurt your feelings so I want to explain why I feel like this about you.

I guess what hasn’t helped our relationship is that I returned from holiday at the beginning of your month and I couldn’t help noticing a few changes while I’d been away.

Looking a bit grey

For a start, I noticed that the evenings were shorter than before I went away.

Also, your weather temperament has been a little unpredictable.

Rainy day in August

You’ve made me feel a couple of times like I want to put my onesie on and crank the heating up and this has left me feeling very confused.

I’ve also had to get the umbrella out several times. I don’t mind this too much but you’ve caught me out in my flip flops on more than one occasion in the last few weeks and I really don’t want to have to think about shoes just yet.

In this respect, you are a bit of a tricky one because you signal the end of the summer and the start of autumn.

The most painful part for me though August is that you make people start talking about the new school year and worse still Christmas and this just makes me feel sad.

Being a parent, my calendar tends to run by the school academic year and this makes September feel a little bit like a new year.

September is on its way

It also means that the fun of the summer is coming to an end and while I may have moaned about the The Kid from time to time, I absolutely love the school holidays and I will miss her.

I also love Christmas but I get very worried that the year is almost over when people start discussing it in your month. You may be a little fed up about this too.

What really worries me is that I haven’t done all of the things I said I would. A bit like I’m running out of year.

I guess July is a hard act to follow and in some respects I may be making you feel a bit like January feels about December. A bit like the poor relation. Everyone has a good old moan about January because they have had such a great time in December. I have to say I’m a bit of a weird one here though because I love January and I know not many people do.

Anyway, enough about me.

I do understand how you may feel about being sandwiched between July and September. I can’t imagine all this talk of autumn and winter is doing much for your self-esteem and maybe that is why you have cried so much this month.

What Season Am I?

This makes me feel even sadder. Equally, you may feel like you haven’t done all of the things you wanted to do this year.

In my attempt to make you (and me) feel a little better, I have taken a look back at what I set as my priorities at the beginning of the year. All of my and my little family’s wishes for the things that we wanted to do this year that make our hearts sing.

It’s these things that provide all the memories and giggles that go on our Memory Board each year on New Year’s Eve.

Our Memory Board

Unfortunately, it’s all too often these things that get overlooked when busy living and other priorities get in the way. Often these ‘priorities’ have a habit of getting in the way of the things that we really want to do and our ‘little things’ fall by the way side.

Maybe you feel like this too and haven’t had the chance to shine as much as you usually would.

I’m going to make a pact with you August. It’s my way of saying that I’m giving you a second chance.

I am going to go back to my list and I am going to do all of those things I promised myself I would do for me this year. As a family, we are going to do as many of the things left on our list that we haven’t yet done. Last but not least, I’m going to make sure that I see all the people I’ve been wanting to catch up with and I’m going to see more of those people that just make me smile.

That’s my part of the deal.

Your part of this deal August is to try to last a little longer and to dry up those tears and start shining again.

How I Imagine You Might Look

I do think we can work together on this and we can welcome September together knowing that we have done enough and are back on track.

What do you think?

PS It might be worth asking September if you can carry some sunshine forward if you do run out of days

PPS The shoe thing was a real problem today!

Raincoats & Sandals