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I've never really believed in making New Year's resolutions.  Even when I've made resolutions in secret, they were often forgotten about within a few weeks after the new year (hence the reason that I've never believed in them.)  But I think that setting a goal is different than making a resolution.  Goals are achievable.  Best of all, goals are something that we should set for ourselves throughout the year--changing and adapting them as they are achieved--instead of resolutions that we only set once a year (and usually involve weight loss.)

This year I'm trying something new.  I am setting goals not only for myself, but for my entire family.  The start of a new year is a good time to start new habits and let go of bad ones.  So here are our family goals for 2008:

1.  Return to nature --  I want us to start spending a lot more time outside exploring the world around us.  More than just going to the park or to soccer practice, I want us out doing things like hiking, fishing, and just good ol' playing in the dirt.  I really want my children interacting with the world around them.  I also want us to try something called Geocaching.  

2.  Turn off the TV more -- This goes hand in hand with the previous goal.  I want to start having entire days with no TV, hopefully encouraging my kids to discover new and different ways to entertain themselves.  My children are starting to become obsessed with certain television shows and this needs to stop.  I want them becoming obsessed with things like books instead.

3.  Eat better -- We eat a lot of snacks and processed foods in our house.  It's hard to always serve healthy food when you have picky eaters, but I'm going to try harder to serve them new foods to try.  If they never try it, how will they ever learn to like it?  I also want us to eat less fast food.  I don't want my kids creating bad eating habits that will be difficult for them to change later in life.

4.  Spend more time together --  After a busy week, it's easy to sit just sit around on the weekends with everyone retreating to their own rooms.  This year I want us to get out and experience more things as a family.  As hard as it is, sometimes you need to throw the busy routine out the door, forget your plan for the day, and spend time together doing something new and different. 

5.  Be nicer to each other --  This goal might sound simple, but it really isn't.  The boys constantly pick on each other.  I'm constantly nagging the boys about something or getting frustrated with their behavior.  I want to work this next year on teaching my kids to be nicer to each other by leading with my example.  I want to choose my words wisely and speak in a softer voice and hopefully teach my children to do the same. 

These goals aren't something that we should do--they are something that we need to do.  These are goals that will make us a stronger, healthier, and happier family, and I plan on achieving each one.

Happy New Year!

 
Read about other moms' New Year's resolutions and share your own at the Yule Blog.