Making New Year's Resolutions with Your Children

I wanted to share my opinion of the tradition of drafting up a list of things to do better in 2010. Doing so, could be a great homeschooling activity, but it could also be a huge time-waster!

We all have those things we'd like to work on, goals we wish to achieve and goal setting is entirely healthy and should be praised! I don't take issue with this in the slightest. I think the problem I see with creating New Year's Resolutions has more to do with how I see adults responding to their lists weeks into the new year.

When we don't see our dreams realized.... fighting those cravings, surrendering to television over walking around the block, or finding writer's block day after day when trying to compose that masterpiece, our usual reaction is to ditch that list and wait until next year! lol What are we teaching ourselves? What are we telling our kids?

Promise me that if you're going to sit down with your kids and create a New Year's Resolutions together that you'll follow the following guidelines:

1. Set realistic goals... after all, you'll still be you when you flip that calendar page.
2. Give yourself some wiggle room. Again... you aren't likely going to change overnight. When you've been dieting for 3 days and you crave a Twix bar... it might not be the end of your diet to have one. I mean, so long as it's just one... your diet doesn't have to be over.
3. Don't beat yourself up if you find yourself a victim of old habits. If I knew how to change into someone else overnight I would have done it a long time ago. Seriously! I've changed in huge ways over the last 20+ years and in some minor ways over the last 5. Never overnight.
4. Recruit a friend or an accountability partner to help you stay on track. If you're doing this with your children, you already have one!
5. Smile! This is all positive. You're wanting to take better care of yourself and those around you. You should feel proud that you're healthy enough to set the goals and yes... you can do it! 
6. If you hit a road block.... DON'T WAIT UNTIL JANUARY 1, 2011 to pick yourself back up! lol I can't tell you how many times I've seen people do that with diets. Trust me... there's really nothing magical about January. :) In fact, where I live it's pretty unremarkable to say the least.

Ok... are we clear? lol Have fun with this! If you're not feeling ready for battle, maybe set small goals like cleaning your bedroom closet and keeping it clean all year? Hey, that's reasonable isn't it? Maybe you and your children could set a goal of making your beds everyday, tackling a difficult subject, or spending more time with the grandparents. If you want to teach them to reach out to others... encourage them to save a bit of their allowance each week for Harvesters or for a toy drive in the Fall? Maybe you could all save and adopt a family for Christmas next year! Now you're thinking!

Happy New Year!
~Wendy