Who doesn´t know this situation? You have great plans for the New Year, including all the things you want to change and make better, but you end up totally giving up on them! Why should our New Year’s Resolutions be any different? Our ideas of New Year´s resolutions are far from “wanting to work out more” and “trying to lose that 10 pounds”. They are all about spending more quality time as a family as well as making better use of your time as an individual. We have included some more New Year’s Resolutions below and hope you might find one you can use with your family.
Make a bucket list of places close by
When you are planning your travels, you spend a lot of time researching, what places to see/ what activities to do/ what food to try and so on. Why don´t you bring some of that holiday spirit into your everyday life. Make a bucket list of all the “fun-sounding” places, where you can get within one hour. This way you will discover new playgrounds, new hiking trails or cute little towns.
Take a picture of your child in the same spot every month
It often feels like kids are growing up way too fast. Especially when they are still little. To capture every step of their growth, you can take a photo of your kid every month. Have them stand/sit in the same spot for each photo, like in front of a neutral-coloured wall. You can even have your kid wear the same kind of outfit like a white T-Shirt, for the photos. When the year is over and you´re looking at the pictures side by side, you will be able to notice even the very smallest changes. This doesn’t take a lot of time and by the end of the year, you can turn these photos into a fun photo book or create a slide show with your computer.
Cook one meal a month, you have never made before
Are there a lot of recipes you have been meaning to try, but never came around to do? Why don´t you try out one of these each month? The first thing you should do, is to write down every dish that comes to mind. Then you can already start sorting them and planning ahead for the year. If there is an asparagus dish you want to make, you should plan that one for April/May, since that is when you can get the most fresh and cheapest asparagus. You will see once you have a plan, it will be a lot easier to stick to it than it would be, if you just generally wanted to try out new things. And who knows, maybe one of these dishes will become a family favourite.
Have one date-night a month
Life as new parents can be very stressful. You have a household to manage, kids who constantly demand your attention and at least one of you will probably work full-time. With all these life changes and challenges it´s hard to still find time to spend as a couple. But it´s important for your relationship to make time for just the two of you. It might be easiest to set up a certain time of the month like “every first Friday of the month”. To make regular date-nights happen, it´s necessary to have a network of caregivers surrounding you. Of course it would be ideal to have relatives close by to help you out. But if that’s not the case, you can look into hiring a local babysitter or nanny.
Find a new hobby
A new year is the perfect time to try out something new. So go ahead and learn how to knit or take a class in martial arts or whatever it is, you have always been wanting to try. Just give it a shot!
Have a day without screen-time
Without really thinking about it, we tend to spend a lot of time watching TV, texting, checking out social media or just randomly surfing the internet. Often times we are not even aware, how much time we spend staring at screens. Try to have one day of the weekend completely without using TV, computer and phone! (You can switch off your wifi and mobile data, so in case of an emergency you would still be able to answer your phone). It´s a great way to spend quality time as a family and to “recharge” yourself for the next week.
Read more
Have your little one choose a book, snuggle up together and read it out loud. That’s the perfect way to spend a lazy rainy afternoon. And don´t stop reading together, once your child is old enough to read by themselves. You can lay down and each read in your own book or take turns reading out loud to one another.
Have your kids, have “their day”
As a parent you spend a lot of time planning out family activities and thinking about, what each family member would enjoy doing. Then why not for a change let your kids plan an entire day of activities? You might be surprised by what they are excited about doing. Maybe they will be happy to “just” to go to the neighbourhood playground and have some hot chocolate in the evening. Or maybe they will come up with some fun adventure, you have never even thought about. Either way it will be a fun experience for your kid to be the one in charge of making the decision what do with the day.
One crafting afternoon per month
Have you saved a million projects on Pinterest, but never tried any of them? Why don´t you dedicate one day a month to be “crafting day” (preferably a rainy day). There are so many season-related crafts or DIY-projects, just waiting to be tried by you. Just make sure you decide, what craft you want to work on a couple of days in advance, so you can get all the necessary items.
Create a photo album with your favourite pictures of every month
Thanks to our smart phones, it´s never been easier to take pictures and capture memories. But unfortunately many of those pictures stay on the phone and never get printed. Photo albums are a wonderful way to preserve vacations, adventures and family celebrations, but they are also time-consuming. But making one page at a time, one every month, isn’t that time-consuming. You just need to select one/two favourite photos you took that month, print them (on the next trip to the pharmacy), put them in the photo album and write a bit about what you guys are doing in the picture. When your kids are old enough, they can even make their own photo album of their favourite pictures of the year.
Make time for yourself
When you are a parent, the main thing you´re focused on is your children´s well-being. But in order to be a good caregiver, you need to learn to also take care of yourself. Whether that be going to the gym one night a week or having a wellness-day with your friend once month. Make sure to give yourself a break, when you like you need to rest and regain some energy. There is absolutely nothing wrong about asking your partner, family members or babysitter to take over everything kids-related for a couple of hours.
Start a new family tradition
Come up with a new, fun family tradition. Maybe do breakfast in bed every Sunday or make Wednesday-Movie-Night a thing.