It's true that a clean slate can motivate us to make healthy changes, but how often have you abandoned your resolutions by the middle of January? Instead of fixating on an ideal weight, financial status, or organizational system, resolve to make lifestyle changes you can maintain long term. Here are some "realsolutions" you might try:
Get more sleep. When the kids are finally in bed after a long day, it can be tempting for us stay-at-home parents to burn the midnight oil tending to our own projects or just enjoying quiet adult time. But sleep deprivation can lead to poor concentration, increased sickness, increased accidents, and weight gain. The National Sleep Foundation reports that most people need seven to nine hours of sleep, but the average woman sleeps only six hours and 41 minutes. Try this: Establish an earlier bedtime for your kids (sleep is essential to their health as well!) and enjoy a relaxing activity for the next hour or so. Read a book, knit, or watch a movie with your spouse; avoid stressful or high-energy tasks just before bedtime. Aim for lights out seven to nine hours before you expect to wake up in the morning. Getting enough zzz's will help you meet your other goals - from weight loss and better organization to getting your finances under control - because your body and mind will function more efficiently.
Play with your kids. Are we so busy shuttling our kids to organized activities that we're robbing them of opportunities to play? Even when we are home with our kids, how often do we set everything aside and enter their worlds through play? A report by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) describes unstructured play as "essential to development" and discusses play's cognitive, physical, social, and emotional benefits for children. But it's not just children who benefit. Interacting with our kids through play allows us to cease our anxious efforts to achieve childrearing perfection and simply enjoy our children's company. The AAP describes what parents gain through interactive playtime, including stronger relationships, enhanced communication, and better insight into our children. And if you typically resolve to improve your financial situation at the New Year, substituting at-home play for costly enrichment activities will get you into the habit of having fun without spending money.
Delegate chores. If you're wondering how the housework is supposed to get done with all the sleeping and playing going on, this realsolution is for you. Involving your kids in household clean-up and meal preparation gives them a sense of ownership and responsibility. Working together to prepare a recipe or sort laundry boosts your pleasure in one another and makes the task more enjoyable. You can begin teaching children as early as age three about financial responsibility by giving a small allowance for completing chores. You'll find examples of age-appropriate chores at the Web site of Family First, a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening the family.
Pursue a dream. We tend to concentrate on goals at the New Year, and there's power in clearly articulating a desired result and the steps you'll take to achieve it. The flip side of setting tangible goals and objectives is that it's obvious when we miss the mark. If I focus on losing 10 pounds and the scale doesn't budge for two weeks, I might abandon my efforts in discouragement. Temper your goal-setting with dream-catching. Identify one dream on which you'll not impose a deadline, and list 10 to 20 activities that will move you closer to that dream. Post the list where you'll see it frequently and engage in an activity from the list once or twice a month. Because dreams are ignited by passions, simply engaging in these activities will energize you and promote growth in other areas of your life. For example, if you've dreamed of owning a greenhouse, puttering in your garden or visiting a botanical park could be a small step toward your dream. Such steps might help you clarify the role you want gardening to take in your life, now and in the future. No matter if or when you ultimately launch a business, regulalry feeding your plant passion (or any other passion) will have a ripple effect on every aspect of your life. Ironically, doing something you love without worrying about the end result sometimes yields better results than striving for carefully calculated goals.
Establish routines. There's middle ground between the extremes of scheduling every minute and "taking the day as it comes." Following a routine can help you accomplish what's needed more efficiently, leaving more time for relationships, rest, and recreation. Because it's not as structured as a schedule, a routine is more likely to remain in place without contributing to stress and anxiety. A routine might look something like this: Breakfast when the kids wake up, clean-up, playtime, snack, outing or errands, lunch, naptime, dinner prep, family dinner, clean-up, baths, kids' bedtime, relaxing activity, bed. If you work from home, do your job when the kids routinely take their naps or before your spouse leaves for the office. You might have a different routine for each day of the week, but try to be consistent in the day you choose for various activities. For example, planning meals and buying the week's groceries every Sunday afternoon is a better use of your time than making several trips to the store. Food-planning foresight also has positive effects on your family's health and finances, as you'll more consistently enjoy healthy home-cooked meals rather than frozen pizza or high-priced take-out food. You'll be pleasantly surprised at the "found time" and other benefits you reap when you adopt a routine.
