So You Say You Want a Resolution

New Year's Revolution

Ah… the calm that comes when the holidays are over. The decorations are put away until next year, the kids are back in school, and you’re ready to make a fresh start. There are promises of healthy eating and exercise, not to mention the goal of being the perfect mom to perfect children. Then it happens … you wake up!

I’m still finding random bits of New Year’s Eve confetti, and I haven’t taken down my Christmas card display, but I have the best of intentions. I have my list. I don’t actually set New Year’s resolutions, per se, because I’m guaranteed to pretty much feel like a failure on January 2nd! What I do is write about a million lists on a daily basis. There’s my grocery list, my to do list, my bills to pay list, my meal planning list, my list of blog ideas, etc…. I consider each of these lists a set of personal resolutions. This way, no matter how badly I do on Monday, I can still start fresh on Tuesday!

Resolutions

I’m not going to pretend like I don’t want to spend more meaningful time with my kids, because I do, but I also know that I’m way more likely to be a happier mom if things in my home are in order. That’s why my daily list has things like:

  • shower (that was I know I can cross off at least one thing!)
  • make bed
  • do a load of laundry (that’s not nearly enough to keep up, but at least I’ve done something!)
  • call my sister

Every so often I’ll have bigger things, but even when we have something big, I usually chop it into small pieces on my to do list so that I don’t get overwhelmed. I’m a visual person, and I like to see things crossed off my list; it makes me feel like I’m accomplishing something with my day, even if the only thing I’ve crossed off  is shower! If I can get a few things crossed off while my kids are playing in the morning then I’m ready to help with and be present for homework and piano in the afternoon.

I want my children to know that the job that is most important to me and the thing that brings me the greatest joy is being their mom. I worry sometimes that my kids don’t know how much I love being a mom, so I want them to see me happy (not in a creepy Stepford way) more than they see me frustrated. I could make that my New Year’s resolution, but it’s not something I really want to forget in a couple of weeks. That’s why I do the daily lists. It helps me keep my purpose in mind every single day.

How about you? How do you handle resolutions?

 

 

Sarah
Sarah is originally from the east coast of Canada and moved to San Antonio from Salt Lake City 6 years ago for her husband’s job. They have 6 children: Samuel (9), William (7), Benjamin (5), Afton Rose (4), Charles (2), and a baby girl that was born on July 1st. She’s a busy stay at home mom, and she loves her job! She loves entertaining and cooking and spending time with friends and family. She’s also come to fully embrace the family road trip! You can read more about Sarah and her family over at Frankly Entertaining.

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