Spring and Transitions

This week, there have been a string of sunny days with temps in the high 40s, low 50s.  In Michigan, just about everyone is rejoicing: spring is here!

The kids are excited that they *only* needed to wear a fleece and winter boots.

I do not share in the same delight.

Believe me when I am say that I am so ready for winter to be over, but March, and, if I am being totally honest, a large part of April is mostly the transition to spring. That final push to get through the last bit of winter is really difficult for me to embrace.  Warm, sunny days are not here yet.  I have a hard time cheering for dirty, melting snow and brown, dingy grass. 

 

Blech.

Sometimes I look to retail therapy to help me get through this challenging time.

Maybe a fun, cheery raincoat would help me feel brighter?

And I thought these cute flats would help, too.

But generally speaking, I do have difficulty with transitions. 

When I was in the 3^rd grade, I hid my yellow blankie that I still needed at bedtime in my closet when my friends would come over so they wouldn’t know that I still sleep with it.  The summer between elementary school and junior high, I still played with my Jem dolls (well, not actually played with them, just dressed them up and did their hair  . . . because that is way less awkward than imaginative play).

Even when I moved out of my parents house into my first apartment after college, you know, after I lived pretty much lived all by myself for years, I still had a difficult time making that move.

When I look back on these consistently distressing examples and my challenges with springtime, I think the one thing that is missing here is a ritual that says, “This phase has officially ended.  We are now moving into this new phase.  Officially.”

I think I would fare better if there was something to mark the beginning of the spring, kind of like when we put up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving and take it down soon after New Year’s Day.  I thought about Easter, but I don’t want this springtime celebration to be affiliated with a holiday that already has its own traditions, like dying eggs or Easter baskets or figuring out Easter plans.

I just want it to be easy and breezy – like the way spring should be.

So sometime in April, I will be having my First Annual Spring Celebration.

I have no idea what I am going to do, but I have been looking to Pinterest  for guidance.  Obviously.

So far, I think asparagus and daffodils need to be involved, but other than that, I am not sure.

I am open to suggestions.   Actually, please give me some suggestions because I am lost here.

Do you have a difficult time with transitions?  How do you celebrate spring?