Here it comes - 2007! A new year, and I still have not caught up with 2006.
I have been thinking about resolutions for the new year, and frankly, I am out of ideas. No matter what I decide, it never seems to happen. I do try, but life moves faster than the speed of my decisions.
Here are the things I could resolve to do for 2007:
- Lose Weight - With my youngest now 4 1/2, they do not allow you to call it "baby fat" any longer.
- Keep the house clean - Of course, I would have to clean the house in the first place.
- Be a more creative mother - As my children get older, I find I am less interested in the detailed life of Bionicles, or why the middle child's feelings are hurt....again. So, perhaps I should resolve to re-insert myself into the playscape of my children's lives more often.
- Cook more - Cooking is an area that suffers as I homeschool. I find myself always planning dinner with what is on hand at 5pm every evening. Frankly, mac n' cheese only holds its charms for so long.
- Read more intellectually - I saw a book yesterday in a store, titled something like "Motherhood Makes You Smarter". I thought to myself, lucky woman, because that has not been my experience! I now have trouble stringing two words together. My children have become exasperated with all being called "hey you!", and now refuse to answer until I include their name...and they insist on it being the right name.
I could do this. I really could. Yet, I won't. I think there is enough pressure in my life to be more, do more, prove more, show more, and so on. Instead, I think the only resolution that makes any sense is to live more. I am reminded of that more now than at any other time of the year.
It is the holidays, and I am so enjoying all the family in town. We meet at my mother's every day, and talk and reconnect. Missing from our group is my father, who died more than 22 years ago, at the age of 42, and my sister who died almost two years ago, also at the age of 42, after long battle with cancer. Their absence is a reminder to all the family to live life to the fullest, enjoy every day you are given, and that life can be too short for petty squables.
So, as the new year begins, may you and your family celebrate with joy. May you let go of fears and anxieties. And may you live every day to the fullest, enjoying these precious days of homeschooling, where we are given time with our children others only dream of.
Happy New Year.
