The following is a guest post from momAgendaCOMM blogger Kris Cain.
Each year some of us make a list. We call it our “Resolutions for the New Year.” The problem with most of these resolutions is that after a week or two, we forget all about them. Well, this is the norm. But if you are a mom, there may some resolutions that you really, really need to stick to. Here are my top 10 that I need to stick to this year. And yes, I must use humor to make it through.
1. Get my children to school on time: This should not even be on the list. It should be automatic. But, depending on the situation this is not as easy as you think. You see, I live 45 min – 1 hour from my child’s school depending on traffic. Why? Because we chose to put our kids in school close to work so that they would be close during the day in case of emergencies. And, we live in Chicago. This means… traffic. I seem to be cursed. On more than one occasion I run into some unknown on the road. This could be horrible traffic out of nowhere, a backup due to an accident, or a freight train moving 5 miles per hour that holds us up. And this year (to make matters worse) they have made the school day start earlier. Oh joy! So, my #1 resolution is to start leaving the house much earlier on my days to drive them to make sure that they get to school on time. Believe it or not this means that I will have to leave the house approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes before they even start school. And on days with bad weather even earlier than that.
2. Put away clean laundry: Yes, I am very guilty of just keeping the clothes in the baskets. I mean why not? I do so much laundry that by the time I put it up, it all comes out again. So, I now vow to put the laundry away! It keeps things organized and leaves a lot more space to walk.
3. Spend more time with my kids: It is very hard when you work or run a business and have to take care of the home all the while trying to spend a lot of quality time with the kids. There are just not enough hours in the day. Better organization could help this. This year I vow to spend more quality time with my kids on the weekends.
4. Load the dish washer each night: After driving around, helping with homework, making dinner and bathing kids in the evenings, I am often completely exhausted. I am very guilty of leaving the kitchen a mess and choosing to deal with it the next day. The main problem with this is that it leaves more stuff for me to have to deal with the next day! So, I vow to load the dishwasher and tidy up the kitchen each night no matter how tired I am.
5. Teach my kids more cool things: My kids are very techy. I do not have to teach them much because they pick up so much on their own. But, there are still some things that I want to teach them more about like cooking and dancing.
6. Raise intelligent kids: So far my kids seem absolutely brilliant. The teachers and everyone around always says so. But, they are still young. I want to make sure that they stay that way. I love to chat with them and nurture their curiosities.
7. Talk to my kids more: I always say that my girls are 8 going on 35. I like to make sure that they understand what is going on and why. I do shelter them from some stuff, but not all. Otherwise, how will they learn right from wrong?
8. Make the kids clean up after themselves: Kids are messy. They leave toys, books, and other stuff in a trail all over the house. I do ask my kids to clean up after themselves. But, sometimes as bedtime approaches I just get frustrated and send them to bed. No more. From now on they will have to pick up everything!
9. Go out looking a little less like “mom”: Yes, we all do it. We just throw on something quick to run to the store or run the kids to school. A few weeks ago I vowed to myself that I would take a few more minutes to look nice when going out. Why? Because you never know who you might run in to! And I don’t want to embarrass my kids.
10. Organize my house: One of my priorities this year is to actually organize my house which makes doing all the things above much, much easier.
What I did not mention above is that after over 20 years of working, right now I am without a 9-5 job. I have mixed feelings about this, but I choose to make the best of it. And if I can feel good about at least 5 things on the above list, I will feel much better about my situation. So with more time on my hands and some determination I am going to be a better mother!
Kris Cain is a member of the Council of Media Moms at momAgenda. She writes about technology and her busy life on her blog, Little Tech Girl. You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter.