Welcome to “Two For Tuesday” a post every Tuesday for us Extraordinary Mothers (over @ Extraordinary Mothers) on how we deal and cope with motherhood, the pains, angst’s, joys, and triumphs. I am Karie of The Five Fish and as a mother of twins and a singleton I know all too well the “two” sides to each coin, our children and ourselves and how to find answers and balance.
Happy New Year. Another year, another opportunity to start fresh right? I read today on a friend’s blog about how each new year is not a fresh start but yet a continuation of the chapters of our book. She could not be more true with her words. Wiping our slate clean would only suggest that we did not learn from the events of the previous year, day, and months. A new slate also means we are starting at the bottom, new, fresh, no ground work already laid, which makes annual goals that much more unattainable.
How many of you have already made annual resolutions? Lose weight? Quit smoking? Quit cursing? Join a gym, club, church, whatever the case may be. How about any family goals? Any goals and resolutions for the year that mean the entire family? Everyone pitches in, everyone is involved, including the kids towards family goals and resolutions. No family goals? Why not?
Crazy as the idea may sound a family goal creates a healthy foundation for children to set realistic goals, for us as parents to set realistic goals, and everyone is involved which promotes the overall family structure. A starting family goal could be to agree to family dinners each night and maybe everyone takes turns making the meal, setting the table, or cleaning up afterward. A goal to create a stronger family unit. A goal to spend more quality time together. Even the goal of taking a family vacation even if just a stay-cation.
The goal could be anything as a family, anything promoting togetherness and individuality within the family unit. Goals are great fun as long as they are realistic, attainable, and best of all when they’re fun and yield results. So this year when making some resolutions, goals, look at a way to include the family, have some fun with it, encourage the kids and the entire family to think of some great resolutions and goals that everyone can partake. Because each new year that passes is not a clean slate, but another chapter of life.
lovely post and thank you for the idea 🙂 its a great one and which i am sure i will make good use of especially when Greg is a bit bigger and understands more 🙂
I LIKE the idea of it just being another chapter. What a beautiful way of looking at it!
Visiting you from SITS roll call today!
No Goals for me this year, but I wish everyone success in theirs!
Shane
My family resolution is more quiet time for all of us. But then again, that's MY family resolution. I sincerely doubt that anyone else in the family will go along with that.
As a family we (kids included) are trying to make Mom's life easier and following through with our assigned chores. Just a little help from the big kids goes a long way.
I never make resolutions; they are too easy to break. They are usually a list of nots– "I will *not* overeat", "I will *not* skip the gym", "I will *not* drink/smoke/etc". I like hte idea of goals, though, things I will do, want to do. Thanks for the inspiration!
~Elizabeth
Confessions From A Working Mom
No resolutions for me. I stink at such things!
I don't like to set goals for myself because then I have to achieve them but I basically just want to be happy and healthy. I never really appreciated the desire for good health until now.
A few years ago when Buzz and I were having troubles we made a "resolution" together which turned out to be more of a contract, a written note of give and take. Things that I would work on: being overly critical of myself, suspicious of his friends and unsupportive of his personal ventures whereas he would work on things like: being more affectionate, showing more appreciation and helping me attain my weight loss goals by being supportive. We made ourselves a keyword so that if either of us were committing the "offenses" in public we wouldn't embarrass the other by calling them out, we would simply slip the word in to conversation. It may sound strange but it really helped us to refocus on each other and building our relationship. This year we haven't made many resolutions and haven't made a joint venture one either but it was nice to recall our previous effort and the difference it made for us.