New Year’s Resolutions, Finally! 7 Months Late

August 11, 2015 By Kelle

There are three lunch boxes stashed above our washer and dryer, waiting for the first day of school. Three. Given my past record of sentimentality, I should be in a fetal position somewhere with a bag of Cheetos, a stack of tear-stained baby books and Slipping Through My Fingers on repeat. But alas, I am not. How should I explain this? Maybe this will do:

For the record, that lipstick cost $14. Thankfully, I was over Lady Danger–moving on to bluer hues. But still. I’m a little tired, and I know that new routines, new places and a world of new things to learn is the best thing for all of us right now.

I wasn’t ready for any new resolutions in January, but I had 7 months to think about it, and I’m ready now. Pack your backpacks, put on your gym shoes. Let’s light the world on fire.

These pencil socks though, right? We’re going to do big important things in these socks.

New Year’s Resolutions, 2015

10. More Snail Mail. I’m on a roll right now–two packages out last week to little ones we love, and it felt so good to put them together. I dedicated an entire drawer of my desk to snail mail and organized it over the weekend–new stamps, stickers, good stationery, fun stuff to include in packages like bookmarks and temporary tattoos. I tucked in some good gel pens and a few fun pictures I cut out of magazines. We are going to earn our care package badge this year and make friends’ days special as often as we can.

9. Show up in Classrooms. Without overcommitting (the letdown–more like guilt, less like milk coming in–feels awful), I’m excited to show up in my kids’ classrooms more. Maybe the teacher will even let me read Miss Nelson is Missing to the class.

8. More Post School Drop-off Breakfast with Friends. Even if it’s a quick coffee chat in the parking lot. Besides, fall’s around the bend, and we are going to need to discuss important things like where to hang the leaf garland and how to arrange the pumpkins around the front door.

7. Continue Simplifying.
After reading the Tidying Up book that rocked everyone’s world early in the summer, I must have halved all of our closets and toys and it felt incredible. More, more, more. I love using the filter “Does it bring you great joy?” for deciding what goes and stays in our home, closet, etc.

6. Use my Gym Membership.
As Elle Woods would say, endorphins make you happy.

5. Draw More.
It makes me happy. Early morning doodles with coffee, afternoon stress relief with the kids and some colored pencils. I’ve been pulling lots of inspiration from the 20 Ways to Draw series. We have a few of these books, and there’s a new one coming in September–how to draw house stuff!
20 Ways to Draw a Dress, Draw 500 Things from Nature, 20 Ways to Draw a Chair (comes out Sept 1)

4. Wear Real Pajamas. My favorite thing to buy for my kids is pajamas, and I’m obsessed with getting them as cozy and comfortable before bed as possible and yet I’m constantly wearing exercise shorts and t-shirts. Comfy, yes, but I like the idea of real made-for-bed pajamas. I’m going to step up my grown-up lady game and work on my pajama drawer (anyone have any favorite brands? Something a grown-up lady would wear? Or, okay, a kid-who-still-likes-cartoons-trapped-in-a-grown-up-lady’s body would wear?)

3. Meditation Baths. We just started these, but my kids have been loving them. Candles, essential oils, lights off, bubbles and some guided meditation (“Close your eyes. Take a deep breath in…now relax your shoulders…now your elbows…your wrists…your fingertips.”). You can find several guided relaxation scripts online that are helpful. A great way to wind down on school nights!

2. Entertain. Lower standards for having people over (what’s that verse? “Candles cover a multitude of paper plates.”) means more opportunities to connect with our neighbors and friends. I love people in our home. I love sitting around the table long after dinner’s over. I love that last goodbye as Brett and I wave from the driveway and finally close the door. “That was fun” always follows.

1. Invest in Us. We’ve been talking a lot about this one lately. We are good at Family. United front, group hugs, family outings–we got this. But US, the two-letter word? We need more of it. We’ve been trying to line up more babysitters (dinner and a movie last weekend–look at us! we’re flying!), watch each other’s shows and talk about things other than kids, kids, kids. It’s not easy when kids take up so much of our lives and time. Also, holding hands in the car across the middle console is my favorite. Just a little way to say, “Hi! It’s you and me.” That is until someone asks for a cup from the back seat.

These little moments? Slipping through my fingers all the time.

Oh, who am I kidding? I’m totally going to cry pulling away from school next week.