We all have aspects of our mothering that we’d love to improve upon. I mean, who doesn’t want to be more organized, be more present, and be more patient? But instead of resolving to completely get your act together for the new year, pick one or two things that feel achievable to set yourself up for success.
Here are twenty-five ideas for resolutions that are both effective and achievable. Which will you choose?
1. Implement phone-free hours. We all love the idea of being fully present and completely tech-free, but that’s neither realistic nor specific. Instead, designate certain hours to be phone-free, like 6-8pm over the dinnertime hour, or for the first two hours after you and your kids are home together.
2. Get fully dressed ____ days per week. If you’re a stay-at-home mom, you know how easy it is to stay in yoga pants all day. If that’s something you struggle with, resolve to get dressed in “real” clothes a certain number of days per week.
3. Have your kids cook dinner once a month. This one might change based on the ages of your kids. If you’ve got fully independent teens, they could probably do it once a week. But if you’ve got preschoolers or early elementary-aged kids, obviously you’ll have to be fully involved and this will mean a LOT of work for you. But being in the kitchen infrequently will still get them developing critical life skills, so choose a frequency that works for you without being overwhelming.
4. Implement a morning routine. If you’re anything like me, you have parts of the day that are really difficult, but when you really look at it you don’t have a solid plan or routine. Resolve to make those periods easier by making a realistic yet effective routine.
5. Have your kids pack their own school lunches. Even the youngest child can do it – we promise. Here’s how.
6. Get together with a friend once a month. In a perfect world you’d get loads of time to connect with your friends without the kids. But it’s harder for some moms than others – so if you struggle with it, get creative! Meet a friend for coffee on your lunch break, or head out for happy hour once the kids are in bed.
7. Get away overnight with your spouse once during the year. Or twice or three times. But if it’s something you’ve never done, maybe just resolve to try it once this first year.
8. Make your bed every day. There are actually legitimate reasons why you might want to skip this one, but a lot of people swear that it’s one of the most important things they do every day. Resolve to make your bed every day – even if it’s five minutes before you crawl back into it at night. I did this one year and it really did feel amazing.
9. Stop letting your kids in the bathroom when you’re in there. This sounds silly, but to the mama who needs to implement it – it’s not. I mean, if you’ve got kids under 2 then they might not be safe left unsupervised for 2 minutes. But anyone older than that can probably handle it. Make this the year that you train them to live without you.
10. Make an income plan. If you stay home but have had a dream of how you can earn an income, make this the year that you start putting things in motion. Make a business plan, do a budget, evaluate whether the potential financial payoff will be worth your time investment, and make a timeline of how you can (slowly) bring your dream to life.
Here are some other resolutions that might work for you:
11. Go on a getaway with your girlfriends this year.
12. Finally write your will/living will/establish guardianship for your kids.
13. Cook dinner ____ times per week.
14. Eat dinner around the table ____ times per week.
15. Join a women’s group to meet new people (book club/Bible study/MOPS/exercise group/Bunco group).
16. Volunteer for one thing (don’t go overboard).
17. Spend one hour a month working on family photo books.
18. Update your resume.
19. Reduce food waste.
20. Stop working late.
21. Lower your grocery bill.
22. Start saving for your kids’ college education.
23. Establish a “bathroom cleaning day” to make sure your bathroom is regularly cleaned every week.
24. Give your kids one chore that they are solely responsible for each week. Increase responsibility with age, but don’t try to implement a complicated chore system that takes so much work to enforce that you give up yourself.
25. Read ____ books this year.
Read more of Kristina’s contributions to allmomdoes here.
