February Is the New January!

What Fresh Hell: Laughing in the Face of Motherhood | Parenting Tips From Funny Moms

What Fresh Hell: Laughing in the Face of Motherhood

Kids & Family, Comedy, Parenting

4.8 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 4 February 2026

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Still not feeling that new-year excitement? That's because forcing productivity during the darkest months is a losing battle. Would it make you feel better to learn that January and February were once considered such black holes of nothingness that they did not appear on the calendar *at all*? In this episode, we're declaring that February is the new January. We discuss the history of the calendar, why January is the worst time to start anew, and how modern life works against our natural rhythms. We also discuss the Lunar New Year, how the Year of the Snake has a few more weeks before we enter the Year of the Horse, and how we're going to use our February for reflection, not reinvention. Keep resting! You're a mammal! Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode: Our Fresh Take with Dr. Greg Hammer Our Fresh Take with Katherine May Annie Scott on Substack: The Wankery Verdict: New Year, New You! Erin Blakemore for National Geographic: The new year once started in March—here's why Aadrika Sominder for The Hindustan Times: As the Year of the Snake ends, the Year of the Horse begins: Here's what this Chinese zodiac transition means for you r/LTL_Chinese: Year of the Fire Horse 2026 🐎 What does it mean for you Stacey Durnin for Medium: Why January is a terrible time to make resolutions What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Margaret Ables and Amy Wilson. We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: ⁠https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/⁠ mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kid’s behavior, teenager, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, February is the new January, wintering, seasonal affective disorder, parenting podcast, mental health and seasons, Gregorian calendar, Lunar New Year, Chinese zodiac, productivity culture, burnout, rest and reflection, seasonal rhythms, modern parenting, self-care in winter, New Year resolutions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:31.7	Check Pope Greg's Instagram. What fresh hell. Laughing in the face of motherhood. It's a construct, man. With Margaret Abels and Amy Wilson. Just getting all getting my snake on. A podcast that solves today's parenting dilemmas so you don't have to. You must have really liked Duran Duran. Hello, everyone, and welcome to What Fresh Hell
1:03.6	laughing in the face of motherhood. This is Margaret. And this is Amy. Today, we're talking about
1:09.4	how February is the new January. I'm calling it. I don't even know
1:13.8	what this means, but I laughed really hard when you said. I was like, I don't know what it means,
1:18.7	but I'm laughing already. So I'm in. Fusili, you crazy bastard, I'm in. Right. This was made up by me
1:25.0	due to recent Januaryal events making me feel bad about myself that I wasn't
1:33.0	immediately hitting the ground running and somehow felt like I was swimming through molasses and
1:38.0	mostly catching up on December during January. And then I decided that February is a new January,
1:42.8	so it's fine. I like it. You know
1:45.7	my touchstone and it's right here now and I've entered my phase and I've already said it twice.
1:52.8	We make no major life decisions in February. February messes with your mind. Never make a major
2:00.5	life decision in February because you're crazy.
2:03.8	It might be the case of February is in the best January. Like it might be March is the new January, but we're here. It's February because I kind of agree with that.
2:11.8	You're going to see lots of people agree with us. History agrees with us. Love this.
2:16.9	That January is a terrible time to start
2:20.0	something new. So I'm going to begin by quoting Annie Scott. I don't know her. Her substack is called
2:26.7	Annie Scott's Wankery Watch. Oh, we'll link to it in the show notes. It's very funny. So she takes a,
	...

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