The-Resolution-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named*

*Yes I’m a nerd.  What book/movie is that title alluding to?

Is there anything as inviting as a fresh box of crayons and a clean piece of paper?

Try to resist them.  You can’t.  It’s a new start, and chance to create beautiful things and create new ideas and begin anew.

Just like January.  A new year.  A fresh start.  A time to make resolutions and dream about the things to come!

I’ve noticed a bucking of the word “resolution” in blogland this year.  Most blogs still addressed the idea but used different terminology.  Many of you are rethinking the whole “lose weight, save money” blah blah blah resolutions.  Or, like me, you are still thinking about those things but using different words to focus your thoughts instead of “resolving” to do better.

At the school where I most recently taught, we started each new school year with an activity called Hopes and Dreams.  Students would think about what they hoped to achieve in the classroom (or, in my case, the library) put their ideas to paper.  They ranged from deep (“make good decisions for a better future”) to sweet (“to be like my favorite librarian in the whole world!”) to downright hilarious (“not to eat any library books like last year”).  Treasures!

So, dream with me.  What are your Hopes and Dreams, no matter how large or small they may be?  Even though they may be “resolutions-who-shall-not-be-named”, it’s okay if weight and money are among yours; they make an appearance in my overall landscape this year as well!  Step One is the dreaming, Step Two is goal setting, and Step Three is Action.

After dreaming, I came up with three things:

1.  Take better care of myself.  (sounds selfish, but as the saying goes: when mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.  If I’m sick or sore or exhausted then everyone else feeds on that energy!)

2.  Live in the moment.  (I realized I’m happiest when I on the floor playing with my kids, not attempting to send an email/ eat lunch standing up/ calming the kids all at the same time.  That’s when I’m at my unhappiest.)

3.  Keep our home a place of warmth, calm, and peace. (This is a big one– when I’m not organized or our budget is undefined or things are broken I feel stressed and unsettled.  We need to put systems in place to address these issues, culminating in a happy home.)