Mike was the first person to notice them. Walking by the printer, he spied them fresh off the press.
“This year I will” he read … “Oh no, are these for us?”
They were indeed! Cute New Year’s resolution printables courtesy of Pinterest, one for each of us. Sigh.
“You’re going to make us do those, aren’t you?” Elena was the next to notice, after I’d cut them out nicely and arranged them on the kitchen counter. Sigh.
Eli lived in New Year’s resolution ignorant bliss, until I whipped them back out later that evening as we waited in a barbecue restaurant for our food to arrive. He stared at the blank page and grimaced, as if we’d told him we were all having the ribs and he could have some tofu. Sigh.
So maybe they don’t enjoy self-reflection as much as I do, but in an attempt to humor me they rallied and reflected. And I have to say, they all put great thought into their resolutions. I’m hit or miss when it comes to making big changes when the new year rolls around. For me, I feel more compelled to make changes when the school year starts. That feels like the beginning of a new year to me. Still, I thought it would be fun for us to try coming up with some resolutions together and to share some individual goals with each other. As an Obliger, I know how important it is to have outer accountability when it comes to meeting inner goals. I suspect I’m not the only Obliger in this little family. Here’s what the members of the Six family would like to accomplish in 2016:
This Year Angie Will:
Start a new habit: Aim to get 10,000 steps at least 5 days a week
Read a good book: Harry Potter (finally!)
Learn a new skill: Periscope
Go on a visit to: My niece’s house. We’re always talking about visiting, but are terrible at making it happen.
Break a bad habit: Failure to floss on a regular basis
Look forward to: Our trip to California
Try something new: Cooking ahead and doing meal prep at the beginning of the week
This Year Mike Will:
Start a new habit: Walk Gus more often
Read a good book: Finish the Harry Potter series with Eli
Learn a new skill: Household DIY projects
Go on a visit to: Hocking Hills, Ohio (Our friends went last fall and it looks like a fun and quick family getaway)
Break a bad habit: Skipping family meetings (we’re all guilty)
Look forward to: Going to see Twenty One Pilots as a family (we have 4 tickets to the Indy show this summer)
Try something new: New food (It’s going swimmingly so far, can’t you tell based on Mike’s helpful editorial comments on my suggestions?)
This Year Elena Will:
Start a new habit: Draw every day
Read a good book: Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
Learn a new skill: Something art related
Go on a visit to: California
Break a bad habit: Going to Taco Bell (cut down to no more than twice a week)
Look forward to: Hopefully going to a Ryan Ross concert
Try something new: Skydiving (!)
This Year Eli Will:
Start a new habit: Brush teeth in the morning without being asked
Read a good book: Finish Harry Potter with Dad
Learn a new skill: BMX tricks
Go on a visit to: California
Break a bad habit: Leaving lights on (praise Jesus if just one kid could figure this out)
Look forward to: His first concert (Twenty One Pilots in July)
Try something new: The ukulele
This Year Gus Will:
Start a new habit: Letting my owners clip my nails without freaking the freak out
Read a good book: The Ultimate Guide to Dog Training
Learn a new skill: Wipe his own muddy paws before coming in
Go on a visit to: Barkefellers without getting kicked out for “aggressive mounting”
Break a bad habit: Chewing the most expensive socks we own while overlooking the cheapo Target ones
Look forward to: Finally catching those squirrels
Try something new: Watching the nice old lady walk in our cul-de-sac instead of barking as if she’s an ax-murderer
Just kidding, Gus can’t write … yet.
We also came up with a few family resolutions. We’d like to start having family meetings again once a week. We fell out of the habit over the summer, but have missed that valuable connection and opportunity for communication. We want to work on a big jigsaw puzzle – the kind you get started on a table and leave out for people to work on as they please until it’s finished. And finally, we have a goal to play each and every game we own. We’ve amassed quite a collection, some of which the kids have either outgrown or that we don’t enjoy as much as we thought we would. We’re on a game buying hiatus until we complete this fun task.
Did you or your family make New Year’s resolutions this year? If so, do you talk about them together or keep them private? I promise to report back at the end of the year and let you know how we did with ours!
Here’s a tip to help you keep your new flossing habit — If you miss a couple of days, smell the floss after you use it. It will be pretty stinky, and you won’t want your mouth/breath to be full of that stuff. I learned this tip from the dental assistant in my son’s orthodontist’s office. (She said that was how she became a regular flossing convert!)
I think that would do the trick for anyone!
Favorite family game??
Also:
This Year I Will:
Start a new habit: yoga 5x weekly
Read a good book: The Road to Little Dribbling
Learn a new skill: new cuisine/cooking class
Go on a visit to: NOLA
Break a bad habit: biting my nails
Look forward to: Scandinavia in October/ Northern Lights
Try something new: Herring
Scandinavia?! How exciting! I think 2016 also needs to be the year I add anything by Bill Bryson to the reading list. Any recommendation on which book off his to read first?
Our favorite family game changes pretty often. We get on a kick and play the same game over and over, then move on to something else. So I’ll give you two: our current favorite and a hall of fame game (one that we might not play a ton of right now, but still holds game magic for us). Our current favorite is Exploding Kittens. It uses some strategy, but not so much as to give adults an unfair advantage, and it’s super silly. I think your kids will love it. Our hall of fame pick is Ticket to Ride. Honorable mention (I lied, I’m giving you three) goes to Hive. It would go higher, but it’s only a two player game.
Love these! We are going to see Twenty One Pilots in Nashville. We are thinking about bringing the kids! It would be their first.