Family goals in '08

With the begining of a new year I have been giving a lot of thought to what we can do as a family to make our lives happier, healthier, and more purposeful. I do not like thinking of it as a "New Years resolution" because I think it often sets you up for failure. How often do we hear of our "New Years resolutions" being forgotten by the first week of the new year? Instead I feel that we can make small changes in 2008 that can make a big difference in our lives! I will allow room for flexibilty because I think too often we tend to give up if we can't commit 100%. Here are some of our family goals for 2008.

~ We have decided as a family that Friday nights will now be "family game night." The TV will be off and we will spend time playing games as a family. I will try to make this a priority as much as possible because I feel it is important that we laugh and have fun as a family without the distraction of the TV. This will make a great memory for our children and for us!*Subject to flexibility.

~ We will sit down together as a family every night for dinner. This is another rule that will need to be flexible due to our schedules but it will be a priority. Too often I am busy getting the kids their dinner or have some other distraction going on and by the time I am ready to eat they are almost done.

~ Going GREEN! I watched the Oprah show yesterday and was very inspired to start to do something as a family to help our Earth. It was interesting to learn that even small changes can add up!

1. We are going to change our lightbulbs to GE smart energy bulbs. One audience member said that by doing this she is saving $50 a month on her electric bill!

2. I am going to switch our cleaning products to non toxic products. There are a couple brands they sell at Target such as Method so this would be very convenient (since I am at Target so much!) and better for our household.

3. We will also start to recycle our newspaper. We will stack them up in the garage and then take them to be recycled.

4. I will be taking a water bottle with me to the gym instead of bottled water. Those plastic bottles really add up!

It is interesting how some awareness can cause you to want to make changes in preserving the Earth. Even by doing small things we are helping to make a difference and I hope I am teaching my children that it is everyone's responsibility to care for our planet.

~Less yelling notice I didn't say "no yelling." I need to be realistic. Lately there has been far too much yelling in our household and the winter months are not helping! It is hard especially for the boys not to be able to go outside and burn off some energy. I also find that my patience with them is wearing. Lately it seems that they would much rather aggravate each other than play together (which to some extent is normal) but I get tired of breaking up fights, tattling, name calling, and just flat out unkindness. My wake up call came when Logan told me "Mom, I don't like it when you yell, it scares me." That was horrible to hear and it broke my heart. But it forced me to do a little self examination. As parents we set the tone in our households. How can we expect our kids not to yell when we are yelling at them? I have told Logan that I am sorry and that I need to work on it. Now I am accountable to my eight year old son. How can I fail? Simple~I can't and that little sentence was all the motivation I needed to make a change. So in 2008 I am hoping for a household with more peace and less yelling begining with me.