Steady Mom

A New Year's Journal

The following guest post is written by Paula of Motherhood Outloud.

New Year’s is traditionally a time of both reflecting on the year past and looking with hope to the year ahead.  And journaling is a great way to record both memories and future goals. 

So why not combine them to create a special New Year’s tradition for your family?

Journaling has been an important part of my life for years. It’s a wonderful way to capture and preserve thoughts, emotions, and special memories for future generations. 

Even if you don’t journal on a regular basis, beginning a New Year’s journal for your children can be a simple, fun and meaningful tradition and a great way to remember and reflect on how much they change each year.

We write in our girls’ New Year’s journals on or around January 1st each year. 

Here are some of the things we include:

- Vital Statistics: We list each child’s height, weight, and number of teeth.  It is amazing to see how much they grow in 12 short months!

- Places Visited: We record any vacations, mission trips, or out of town visits to friends and family here.

- Favorite Things: Here we write about their favorite activities, toys, television shows or movies and books.  It’s funny to see how their tastes change (or don’t!) from year to year.

- Things They’ve Learned: Whether it's learning how to walk, talk, use the potty, count or read--this is where we record all the new things our girls have learned.

- Goals for the Coming Year: This is where we write things we’d like our children to accomplish or learn in the next year. 

Hope they’ll learn to use the potty or read or say thank you without prompting? Record it and then, next year, see if they have met (or exceeded!) your goals!  We hope that this is an area where our children will take more ownership as they grow older.

-  Other Special Memories: This is where we record things like the addition of new family members, the passing of loved ones, or other milestones we want to include.

The possibilities of this New Year’s Journal are endless.  Mom and Dad could write the child a special note each year, you could include your child’s handprint or a self-portrait, or siblings who are old enough could write messages to each other. 

The point is to make and record memories for our children, to remind both us and them what a blessing it is to be a family. 

May you and yours have a truly wonderful 2010!

**Paula is a mother of 2 little girls and wife of one great husband.  In addition to teaching her own children, she also teaches other homeschool students part-time.   She blogs about living intentionally as a mom at her site, Motherhood Outloud.**

A New Mom for a New Year

Photo by Tony Hisgett

2010 is almost upon us--can you believe it?

I love the idea of a new year. I'm a list-maker and a goal-setter so the image of a fresh start and a wiped-clean slate appeals to me.

But there's one part of the whole New Year thing I've never gotten into.

And that's making New Year resolutions.

Blah, and double-blah.

You see--although I'm quite the planner, life often throws curveballs in one way or another. (Maybe the unexpected happens, or maybe my priorities or interests change along the way.)

Inevitably it seems that halfway through the year I realize I'm off track--with no chance of reaching my "target."

This is especially true for those of us mamas with little people. We have our hands full surviving in the day-to-day, don't we? Grandiose benchmarks and far-reaching attainments just might not make it on our radar screen this year.

And that's why, for 2010, I'm setting NO resolutions.

Nada, none, zilch.

Instead, I'm coming up with something I hope will be more successful and influential in my life and my family.

I'm choosing a key word for the year, and I'd like to invite you to do the same.

It's a word I want to meditate on in good and bad times; a word to serve as a focal point when needed.

And I believe a year of pondering one word will usher in a sweet and welcome change.

My word for 2010 is anticipation.

Isn't it a good-sounding word?! Fun to say, it rolls off the tongue well.

Also, it really captures my hopes for the coming year. Obviously I am anticipating the launch of my book in just a couple of weeks, and some other projects are on the horizon that I'm so excited about.

But I also want to wake up each morning focusing on the day ahead, recognizing the privilege of spending time with my family each and every moment.

I want 2010 to be spent in a state of hopeful expectancy. ANTICIPATION.

Care to choose a word of your own?

Here are a few more options to get you thinking:

Patience
Fun
Grace
Faith
Love
Peace
Trust
Joy
Calm
Serene
Committed
Creativity
Steady (couldn't resist!)
Slow
Eager
Alive
Energy
Wonder
Delight
Amazement
Listening
Hope
Family
Contentment
Change
Beauty
Play
Memory
Dream
Home

We really can make this upcoming year the best one yet.

And choosing one simple word seems like a positive way to start.

I'd love to hear which word(s) connect with you and what your hopes are for 2010!

Moms' 30-Minute Blog Challenge

We're still merry-making around here, so I'm not joining in the challenge this week. But I am looking forward to reading your post-holiday posts, so please link up below!

I'll be back with some thoughts for the new year soon.

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Thanks for participating in the Moms' 30-Minute Blog Challenge, held here each Tuesday. Please join us! You can read more about it here.

In the spirit of the challenge, take a little time to visit the links of fellow bloggers - but not too much time! Say it with me - "Only 30 Minutes!"

Do you have a 30-minute post you'd like to share? Link up below! Make sure your post links back to this post on Steady Mom, and that your link on MckLinky goes directly to your 30-minute post - no general home pages, please!

Please note that the links will close at 11pm EST on Tuesday, in order to avoid any spammers.

Do You Value Your To-Do List or Your Family?

The following post is written by Steady Mom's monthly contributor, Catherine.

There was stuff everywhere. After having 11 people in our house for a week I had work to do. I'd also been sick with the stomach flu, and the everyday picking up of our house had been neglected.
 
It was a “get stuff done” type of day.

Then my two-year-old came up and said, “Read to me mommy."  There he stood with his big blue eyes, holding a book. My heart melted.

He has no clue all the work I have to do.  He has no idea how sick I've been the past few days and how I pray none of my kids get the flu.  He just wants a book read to him.  

When I looked at him it took me right back to the photo above and how toward the end of my mom’s battle with breast cancer the most she could do was read to my two-year-old. 

She would say, “Grandma can’t get down on the floor and play but I can read to you.”  She loved it--it's a fond memory I have of her as a grandmother. 

So I stop what I'm doing and sit on the cluttered floor. My son doesn’t have much of an attention span yet, but he loves to sit and turn the pages. 

Snuggling with a little one while engaged in a book is the best. The time will come way too soon when the kids won’t be able to sit in my lap and read.

I have to remember that this phase of life only lasts a short time.

Today my son reminded me of how significant that one-on-one time is. By putting him first, I showed him that his needs and feelings matter. Sending him that message was more important than getting the house tidy. 

This can be hard for those of us with “type-A” personalities, but at the end of the day it is our family that is the priority. 

Not how clean our house is, not if we are the most organized person on the block, or that our to-do list is the shortest. 

It is time with family and creating memories to build a positive foundation for our children that matters more than anything else.


Catherine is a mother of three children who finds strength in simple ideas, inspiring others, and keeping things in perspective. She blogs at The Shoe Box Daily, where you can get tips and ideas for thriving in the midst of life's challenges.