2011 Family/Me Goals

In the spirit of the new year, I am going to set some goals for myself that I hope will make life a little more sane for me and my family.  I have come to realilze that without a schedule, albeit a flexible schedule, I tend to feel a little out of control.  If mom's feeling a little out of control, imagine how the kiddos feel? 

My Goals to Help Me Be A Better Mom

• Make sure that there is something scheduled for the kids to do every day (story time, library, park on nice days, indoor play areas if possible)
• Have a plan in place for the day
• Make sure that nap/quiet time happens
• Make time to clean and organize the house
• Make a weekly, if not monthly dinner plan
• Schedule some creative time for me
• Try to schedule playdates for the kids (and for me too)

These are just a few of my goals that I hope will help me be less crazy and more fun.  The last 5 years have been a whirlwind: grandmother'sdeath, grad school, engagement, moving, grad school graduation, wedding, husabnd miserable due to his job, selling a house, pregnancy and mother in law's death in the same month, bed rest for 6 weeks, twins pregnancy 3 months after giving birth to my older son, husband finally gets a new job and is so much happier, bed rest 3 months, 5 weeks premature twins, both twins in NICU with RSV, leaving my job after 10 years, buying a house, going back to work part time, and life as a family of 5.

I have very slowly realized that I need to have a plan in place for me to feel comfortable and not overwhelmed.  After looking over all that has happened in the last 5 years, I am amazed that I am actually as sane as I am (not that it's saying much).  I like order.  I don't like to be completely rigid, but I do like to feel someehat organized, and when I'm not, I get totally overwhelmed and I can't get back there easily.  So, my goal is to slowly start getting things back in order so that there is a plan to my day.  I figure if I do things slowly, I won't get overwhelmed and give up like I usually do.  My goal is to make changes that will last, not changes that happen for a short time and end up getting forgotten about because it is just all too much.

Amy