Hi Reader
I'll be honest with you — my routine has been a bit of a mess this summer, and not just in the kitchen.
The batch-cooked lentils, the fridge that's actually stocked, the meals that happen because I planned for them — all of that took a back seat to a busier work schedule and the general looseness that August seems to invite. My running dropped off too, which genuinely annoys me. But the flip side has been the glorious weather turning into a lot more sea swimming than usual — so it hasn't all been loss.
Sound familiar?
It should. Because summer is genuinely disruptive — and I don't think that's something to apologise for.
Routines aren't meant to survive contact with real life untouched. The ones worth keeping are the ones flexible enough to bend for a season and still be there waiting for you afterwards. |
More evenings out with friends. Holidays. Kids off school and the whole shape of the day rearranging itself around them. None of that is a failure of discipline — it's just what summer actually looks like when you're living it rather than managing it.
The cook in me knows this too — some of my best-loved dishes only happen because a routine got interrupted and I had to improvise with whatever was left in the fridge.
But here's the thing about September — it's never felt like "back to school" anxiety to me. It's felt more like a held breath being let out. The evenings draw in a little, the pace steadies, and there's suddenly room again to ask: what do I actually want the next few months to look like?
