baby rocks.

Happy New Year!

It’s time to set some new goals. Those annual resolutions that everyone inevitably fails at, and I plan to too, a lot, but you have to do it because you do also plan on succeeding, and any percentage of excellence is something more than was before anyway, right?

1. Let’s start out with the obligatory workout every week. I would actually really like to join a gym. And I tried last year, several times, but there was a whole saga of not having the right paperwork several times, and then there was this incident. And then the holidays hit and considering I was going to be gone a total of 7 weeks between October and December, I decided to hold off. But now I’m back, but I was thinking about it, and I decided I should start on a smaller scale. Before committing to a monthly payment for a year, I should see if I can be dedicated to be consistent with what I’ve got in an easier circumstance. AKA Tracy Anderson on DVD at home. If I can accomplish that, I’ll reward punish myself with a gym membership.
2. Start a more scheduled nightly routine during the weekdays. HB and I quickly (not at all) realized that if we don’t plan something, it never happens. Well, I guess that’s pretty normal. But more specifically, we would discuss something, agree to do it, and then not follow through because there wasn’t a set plan of action. In this instance, we decided on dedicating each night of the week to different activities in order to balance our evenings better, or else we’d fall into the vegg in front of the TV thing trap. That screen can be a siren. Plus, the things we want to implement are things we really like doing, but the couch and screen trap us without us noticing and the hours slip away night after night sometimes. So here’s our new schedule (not rigid and completely interchangeable): Monday- Movie night. As Netflix Qwikster Netflix members, we want to nix the haveourmoviesforamonthbeforewatching rut because we really love movies.Tuesday- Personal time. I find more of this weekly than HB does, considering he’s stuck in an office while I can capitalize on baby’s nap times at home, so I really wanted to allocate an evening so he can feel free to do whatever he wants, guilt-free (because I know he probably would like to more often than he does [which is nearly never] and I think it’s because he feels like we should always be spending our evenings doing stuff together). My plans for this for me are sewing, magazine skimming (you wouldn’t believe the stack of Real Simples and NYMag and such I have), and Blurb Booking, and probably some blogging too, although I like to reserve that for my late night mommytime with SATC in the background (see below bullet). Wednesday- Couple stuff. This will consist of non-media events. Playing boardgames together, talking, any travel planning, massaging each other, etc. Sometimes at the end of the week after spending every night together we look back and feel like we haven’t connected or caught up or saw each other very much. That’s no good. Thursday- TV vegging. We got DVR a few months ago for this very reason (and so HB wouldn’t miss any Sunday games due to outings with friends or errands or whatnot). So we’re going to record our shows all week and watch them all on in one night. Friday- Free time. Whatever we feel like we need more of.
3. Be a better blogger. I gotta get more consistent. Scratch that. I WILL get more consistent. I usually like to use my late night mama time after my boys crash for this, but sometimes I get all tangled up in the web and don’t accomplish it. I also don’t like to blog with my phone very much because that means iPhone pics and two fingered typing and it just gets cumbersome and to me always seems like a bandaid fix- just a way to get something out there instead of really doing the post I want. But I guess something is better than nothing as I said, right? I gotta do what I gotta do sometimes to get her done.
4. Kick start my Etsy shop. More on this later, but I’m really excited about it.
5. Continue our weekly try a new restaurant thing. HB and I like this one. Me I think especially. We’ve discovered some awesome places because of it.
6. Getting a bit more serious… work on being less micromanaging. Read: bossy and controlling. Since I take care of Colty 8 hours a day 5 days a week exclusively, it’s actually really hard to relinquish how you do things to another person when they’re around. I find myself constantly watching HB and directing him with C and how he’s operating with him. I need to stop this. He’s not going to do things how I do it, because he’s simply not me and doesn’t think or act like I do. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that because it’s still going to get done. There’s more than one way to skin a cat right? Who cares if he wipes C’s face with a cold wash cloth instead of warm one after he eats. Who cares if he ties the mei tai carrier across the bum instead of the back when he wears him out. Who cares if he mismatches his clothes with his shoes, or if he makes a different hellicopter noise when playing vehicles, or if he sings his bedtime song while he changes his diaper instead of Pop Goes The Weasel with raspberry tummy kisses that always keeps him flat and happy. He’ll figure it out. He’s his parent too and an equal caregiver and just like I figured out what works best for us together, he will too. I need to get over it and be a little less managerial and a lot more easy going. This can be spilled over into non-baby tasks too. Yes “Commanding” is my number one Strength (one not very many women possess as it’s much more of a man’s trait, so it’s a blessing and a curse), it can be an awesome skill, but not used properly, its ugly negative side is bossy and controlling. I need to reign it in.

That’s it for now. I’m sure there are plenty more things I want to resolve to do better in my life (remember this unfinished thing? Ya…), but I can always do follow up posts. So in order to get off on the right foot with this, I’m gonna go ahead and get a jump start on #3 up there and hit CREATE POST!

What are your resolutions this year?