Instead of making one grand resolution -- that I'll no doubt fail by March -- I've decided to make several, more realistic (and hopefully attainable) goals for the new year.
Hopefully, these resolutions will help make things run more smoothly around here.
1) Delegate to the kids more. The kids are at ages where they can help out more with laundry and in the kitchen. By February, I hope to have them making one meal a night. (Seriously.) It's about time for the little people to begin pulling their weight around here.
2) End my "don't ask, don't tell" approach to family finances. When we combined our finances, Mark volunteered to manage money and pay our bills. Handing over this task was easy -- I've never liked paying bills -- but the unexpected result was that I have forgotten to pay attention to our bank account balance.
This has put each of us in unpleasant positions: He's got the weight of our financial future on his shoulders and I've begun to resent asking permission to spend our money. (I wouldn't have to ask if I was more actively engaged.) Enough, I say, is enough.
3) Continue to keep cooking fun. I've made great strides in this department. I no longer feel meal planning/prep is an unpleasant chore. Listening to music, trying new recipes and planning ahead have helped tremendously. I don't want to backslide in 2011.
4) Return to my "clean a little every day" housekeeping approach. When I got pregnant last spring, my energy level dropped dramatically, and with it, my standards for housekeeping. I found myself behind the 8-ball in every possible household chore -- from laundry to tub scrubbing -- and things HAVE NOT improved since the baby arrived. A dirty house drives me absolutely bonkers, so you can imagine my mental state (deliriously sleep deprived and crabby from the clutter). Things have to change. And I plan to do it in a more managable way.
5) Read more. I know this one sounds out of place compared to my other resolutions, but this one is strictly for me. This feels a little selfish, but the fact is, I love to read and rarely have time for more than catching a magazine here and now. Mark got me a Nook for Christmas and I've already read a book I'd been hoping to read for over a year now. (It helps that I'm glued to a chair with a baby at my breast for hours and hours, freeing up some serious reading time.)
It wouldn't be hard to come up with five more resolutions, but I think this list will suffice. Looking back, I hope I've not bitten off more than I can chew.
I'll let you know if I make it to January 15.
Subscribe To Seriously, Jess
Posts
Comments
4 comments:
I love your resolutions Jess! What a great list! Your clean a little at a time stikes a chord with me... I find its the only way I can face the challenge. Not to meaning to sound like an ad... the FlyLady website is all about that.
Also that being more involved with the finances is spot-on too... I leave it to Steve, with the same resulting feelings about it.
Enjoy your reading. Agreed... something for you is needed and deserved.
Karen
happy new year. funny, i was just writing about writing down my resolutions on my blog. maybe i should just write them already.
I typically reject the whole resolution thing, but I think I'm going to try to eat more locally grown, seasonal food.
Someone from IT is organizing a Growing Power produce basket thing at work, so that would force me to use some fruit and veggies that I don't normally purchase.
This also means I have to figure out how to use things like turnips or collard greens....and make it tasty enough for Dan and James to try.
Getting anything done with a newborn is a challenge. Maybe I should've just made one resolution: To not bite off more than I can chew.
Megan, I just saw a cooking show where they mashed up turnips with potatoes. They looked like regular mashed potatoes, but had the extra veggie boost. But then there's all the butter...
Post a Comment