By Siobhan O’Neill White

You’ve hopefully had a lovely, relaxing Christmas and peaceful start to 2024. January can be a difficult month; it’s cold, dreary and you may be feeling a bit down now that Christmas is over. But, don’t despair – there are lots of nice things you can do for yourself. If you feel a bit bloated, don’t think you need to rush out and join a gym or sign up for some crazy diet or exercise plan. Instead, be kind to yourself and take it easy. Start with getting out for some brisk walks in the fresh air; that’s a free and easy way to exercise and feel better, plus the whole family can get involved. Doing some simple yoga or stretching at home can help with your physical and mental health. All you need is a mat and 15 minutes and again, you can get the kids involved too! Follow your New Year exercise sessions with a warming bubble bath and fluffy pyjamas! You will definitely feel like you’ve earned it. If the kids are getting bored, there are some activities that you can get them involved with. One of our favourite activities is Lego, and now is the perfect time to work on those projects. We’ve just finished the Lego Frozen Disney Castle! It took 6 weeks and a lot of patience but was so worth it. Not only is it a calming activity for children but it’s a great way to spend some quality time with them. Baking and cooking are cheap and easy activities to do with the children at home. We picked up the TikTok cookbook for our 12-year-old. who is fantastic at recreating the recipes from that. For quick dinners and baking ideas, we have a dedicated recipe section on mams.ie, go to mams.ie/category/recipes/ Gormanston Park is running a Basketball Camp from 2nd – 5th January, 10am – 2pm, for ages: 6 – 17 with a T-shirt included. With coaches from America & Europe to encourage and improve skills, contact euroelitebasketball.com or info@euroelitebasketball.com to inquire or book. For more ideas on things to do, places to go and competitions to enter, go to www.mams.ie and our socials facebook.com/mams.ireland instagram.com/mams.ie twitter.com/mams_ie