The upcoming New Year is a fantastic opportunity to identify good habits you want to begin, and to commit to keeping them up throughout the year. Though your children may not be quite as aware of the tradition of New Year’s resolutions, they can be a great way to come together and re-evaluate your family’s goals and values. By choosing and committing to resolutions as a family, you are creating a year-long opportunity to bond and work together towards these goals. Additionally, introducing your children to resolutions will help to teach them how to commit to something, and stick to it as a goal and responsibility.
In the spirit of New Year’s resolutions, here are a few resolutions you can make as a family:
- Take Time to Unplug: In a world where we increasingly rely on and are surrounded by screens at all times, Its important to take the time to unplug and spend time with family instead. This means no television, phones, or screens of any kind. Time to read, play outside, or just spend time together. Do this daily or weekly, monthly, or whatever works for your family!
- Eat Well: This is one resolution everyone can appreciate and benefit from. Be mindful of what you are serving, and even get your children involved with the food preparation to further their understanding of the importance of healthy eating.
- Read More: This can be a part of your unplugged time, or an additional resolution if that time is reserved for family bonding. Reading helps us all be more mindful and challenge our minds. Taking time aside specifically for reading can help your child further their literacy skills, no matter what level they may be at.
- Get More Sleep: We can all let our precious sleep slip away from us, so making it a point to get to bed earlier will definitely be beneficial. You may even want to allow yourself to sleep in for one day on the weekend to catch up on some much needed rest you may have missed during the week to keep us healthy, happy, and productive. Remember, young children require much more sleep than us, so this is a great resolution I’m sure they will love!
- Stay Active: In the cold winter months, you may be finding it difficult to get up, get outside, and stay active. However, there are a number of things you can still do to get up off the couch and stay physically active – indoors or outdoors! Try taking a walk around the block as a family before or after dinner; you will be amazed at what a 10 minute walk can do for your energy levels!
- Learn Something New: This can be a goal for each individual family member, or something to do together as one. Maybe taking up a new hobby or craft activity is something that will interest everyone, or perhaps your child has been wanting to pick up a new talent or skill. Encouraging learning something new is a great way to get your child excited about challenging themselves!
Resolutions, whether big or small, are a smart way to realign your family according to the goals and values you hold near and dear. Do you have resolutions in mind for yourself, or for your family? Share them with us in the comments below!
