Harvard Homemaker |
I'm a Harvard graduate and homemaker who blogs about living (and loving!) the domestic life with my husband and four young daughters. You can follow my blog by clicking any of the icons below--I hope you'll join the fun! :)
The year 2013 is almost here! I love this time of year when everyone gets to regroup after a busy holiday, reflect on events of the past year, and look ahead to the clean slate that a new year brings. You get a fresh start and another chance to be "your best self"--think of it as the gift you give yourself!
A few years back I was joking with my husband about how I wanted to write his resolutions for him--at the top of that list would be to use his turn signal regularly and become a better driver in general! He, in turn, wanted to write mine: close the cabinets and finish a project before I start the next one. (My reply to him was to ask if "stop being so wonderful 100% of the time" might be a more accurate resolution for me--surprisingly, he didn't think so?!)
When my husband and I had the above conversation, our kids were within earshot and began asking about resolutions. So as we explained that they were things you wanted to work on throughout the coming year to make yourself a better person, they started brainstorming about what they needed to work on themselves. And "Kids' Resolutions" were born in our house!
On New Year's Day each year, our girls now write out their own resolutions. Oftentimes they are more like "goals"--such as learning to read. We then hang their lists up in our kitchen, and they stay there all year long. Throughout the year, they love to read through their resolutions to see how they're doing. If they feel like they are doing something well (and we agree), they give themselves a check mark, and that goal has been attained. At the end of the year, anything that doesn't have a check mark is put back on the list the following year.
I hang on to their resolutions and tuck them away with their other keepsakes. Some of the lists are hilarious, and they all certainly sum up that daughter and that particular stage in her life. And for a parent, making kids' resolutions has been a great thing. It can be July and if one of the kids is struggling with something, we can say, "This is one of your resolutions! You made a pact with yourself to work on doing better with this..." and it usually helps her come back to reality and collect herself. The girls often remind one another of their resolutions and encourage each other as well.
This year, maybe this is something you want to try with your own children. It shows them that resolutions aren't just for adults--it helps them realize that they, too, get a fresh start each year (and each day) to do better and to accomplish new things. I think this simple tradition is a great way to teach kids two important life lessons: 1) If you start down one path in life, there is always a chance to take a detour and start anew; and 2) You are never done growing as a person. Even grown-ups are always working on being the best they can be.
Life is short. Be your best self, and enjoy!
Happy New Year everybody!
|
Below you can see one daughter's resolutions from the past three years. Her sisters helped her with them because she was still too young to write them out.
Yes, it says, "No pooping in diaper." I laughed so hard when they came to me with that finished list. I suppose a 2-year-old doesn't have a lot to work on quite yet! For the record, she did attain that goal, and I wasn't changing any more diapers by the time 2011 rolled around! Woohoo!
|
Note that my daughter's list didn't change much between ages 3 and 4. I remember when it was time to write out her resolutions last year, we were going down the previous year's list of resolutions. As we read through them, it was like, "Nope. Nope. Nope!" and onto the 2012 list most of those things went!! She made good progress this year, though, as a five-year-old!
|
You can see that our girls' lists have been handled and referenced many times this past year, and now it's time to take them down. I can't wait to see what they want to work on in 2013!
What new year's traditions does your family have?
Wishing you all the best in the coming year!!
Until next time,
HH
* Sign up to get my monthly newsletter so you don't miss out on other fun posts like this one! I promise not to clutter your inbox. (I don't have time to write that many emails and you don't have time to read them!) You can also follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter (see below), or click "follow" at the top of this page--that will allow you to receive emails when new posts go up. Thanks so much for reading! :)
You might also like:
Mother's Day is just over two weeks away already--how did that happen?! I am still getting used to writing "2013" on my checks (not kidding)!!! If you are suddenly realizing that you
Apr 24 2013, 10:59 PM - 3037 Views - 6 comments
We have a room in our house that wasn't used much. We called it our sunroom. It's a cute room that gets a lot of light, but without a TV in there, let's face it--it usually only got some
Oct 2 2012, 01:37 PM - 1954 Views - 7 comments
Welcome to "Fast Tip Friday!" I came up with that snazzy little name all by myself. (Why, thank you--you're too kind...) For those of you who have been following my blog, you are
Mar 22 2013, 03:20 PM - 1137 Views - 0 comments
Just wanted to share a quick idea with all of you today... instead of using a stand-alone mirror that takes up space in a room or hiding one inside your closet door where it's hard to see it, why
Oct 14 2012, 09:22 PM - 1280 Views - 0 comments
We recently did some renovating, and when it came time to do the finishing touches in the two bathrooms our girls share, we decided to use hooks instead of a towel bar. Not only that, but we
Oct 8 2012, 09:57 PM - 2451 Views - 2 comments
I love to create my own invitations. I actually used to have a hand-designed stationery business where I used my own handwriting as the font. But it was time consuming since I had to
Mar 5 2013, 12:23 PM - 1246 Views - 0 comments
When my youngest daughter's birthday was approaching, we happened to be at the beach for a few days--lucky timing for me! I think there is no better place to take pictures than at the beach.
Feb 25 2013, 11:06 AM - 1905 Views - 4 comments
It's November... you know what that means! Yep. Time to start preparing for the holidays! Poor Thanksgiving. It never gets the attention it deserves. When Halloween
Nov 3 2012, 09:20 PM - 809220 Views - 22 comments
Kids love Valentine's Day! If you have children, I'm sure they are already getting fired up for February 14th! And who can blame them--parties at school, sweets up the wazoo, and
Feb 3 2013, 11:21 PM - 1216 Views - 2 comments
Spreading reindeer food, along with leaving cookies for Santa, has become a tradition for our family on Christmas Eve. I had never even heard of sprinkling reindeer food outside until one of
Dec 18 2012, 10:40 PM - 3742 Views - 2 comments
The night before I got married, my mom handed me a present and told me to open it the next morning. So as the sun came up on my wedding day (I was a wee bit excited!), I was overcome with emotion as
Dec 11 2012, 12:38 AM - 5257 Views - 2 comments
Alright, my friends, this is a recipe you're going to want to try! If you like tortellini, and you like soup (and you like FAST!), this one is for you!! My friends and family can't
Feb 20 2013, 11:26 PM - 2381 Views - 6 comments
This is the best chicken noodle soup ever. Yes, ever. (My husband says that sometimes I'm too enthusiastic and then things can never live up to the hype--but for the record, I really
Oct 24 2012, 12:57 AM - 14968 Views - 8 comments
This has been my go-to treat around the holidays for years. I bring it to cookie exchanges and give it as gifts. It flies off the platter when it's served at parties. My family
Dec 15 2012, 09:57 AM - 2100 Views - 14 comments
Comments
lngraves - 30 Jan, 2013 at 2:23 pm
great idea! I will try this next year. Thanks.
HarvardHomemaker - 01 Feb, 2013 at 9:59 pm
It really does help give the kids some concrete goals... it's only been a month, and they are already asking me if they can check things off! :)
Add comment