Dear fellow parent,

The world is beginning to glitter again — fairy lights on hedges, songs in shop doorways, that faint scent of cloves and pine that finds its way into every house. I love a mince pie, is it too early to have one?

This time of year can be beautiful, and also sometimes a bit much.

As we enter this season, we explore a new theme, our last of 2025, in our L-E-A-D rhythm: Belonging & Wonder.

Last month we practiced Rest — learning to pause.
Now we lean in to the web that holds us while we rest at this time of year: family, friendship, place, memory, community.

Body

Occupational Therapy explores belonging and meaning and how that becomes as we participate in our daily lives.
It’s how our hands remember the shape of the mug, how our bodies know the way home.
Belonging lives in the body long before it becomes an idea.

This week, begin by noticing how your body knows belonging.
Where do you feel “home” in your skin?
Is it the warmth of the fire against your face, the rhythm of a familiar song, the pressure of your child leaning in for a cuddle?

If you feel scattered, try anchoring with one sense at a time: touch, smell, sound, sight, body position and movement or internal senses of comfort or discomfort.
These small anchors bring the nervous system back to safety — and safety is the soil where wonder can grow.

Story

Now listen for the stories of belonging that surface this time of year.
Every family holds a patchwork of them — joyful, tender, sometimes painful.
Perhaps there’s the story of how your grandmother steamed the Christmas pudding, or the year things didn’t go to plan but laughter and family saved the day.

Different parts of us carry different stories:
the part that longs for tradition, the part that fears being left out, the part that just wants quiet.
Each story deserves a chair at the table.
You don’t have to resolve them; just let them be heard.

Breath

Take two slow breaths — one for the people you’ll gather with this month, and one for those you miss.
Let both breaths belong and celebrate the wonder of the season.

On your next inhale, whisper inwardly, “I belong here, in this moment.”
On the exhale, “And this moment belongs to me.”

Belonging is a two-way relationship; we are held, and we hold in return.

A Glimpse Ahead

Next time, we’ll move toward the “E” in our L-E-A-D framework: Engage — turning belonging and wonder into small, doable acts of connection.

Before you close this email, take a breath for yourself, and a breath for your child.
Not the child in the Christmas lists — the child who called you into becoming.

May we lean in to the textures of belonging.
May we find wonder tucked inside the ordinary.
And may the ladybird doze beneath the holly leaves, reminding us that even in winter, life hums quietly on.