Resolution is like a 4 letter word

As I said the other day, I don’t believe in resolutions.  Why set out to do something just because we’ve turned the page on the calendar?  As Paul says, if you want to make a major change, or even a minor one,  just do it.  Besides, if you’re going to make broad, sweeping changes and place huge expectations on yourself (or small ones), odds are good you’re going to fail.  I get the whole it’s-a-new-year-the-holidays-are-behind-us idea behind resolutions but I have to think that things that you want to resolve to do badly enough, you’ve probably been thinking about for a while, not just in the final days leading up to January 1.  And for me, lastly, there’s nothing that I really want to change or stop doing or start doing or anything enough that I’m making a resolution.

Now, having said all that, I’ve thrown out the cookies and pitched the rest of the ice cream.  I had started working out a few weeks ago because it makes me feel better, not because I hate myself I feel compelled to lose X number of pounds.  And it’s good for me, bonus.  I want to be a better me going into 2011 and beyond.  I want to be able to play with my kids and keep up with them.  There are days that are going to be exhausting, and all the energy in the world can’t change that.  But the days that are coming, when my kids are riding their bikes around the cul-de-sac or chasing one another around the yard, and I want to be able to keep up.  Play along without running out of steam 3 minutes in. I don’t want to be that parents that WANTS my kids to sit on the couch so that I can sit my lazy ass right there with them.

I also want my kids to learn from Paul and I that cupcakes and cinnamon buns are for special occasions and not a daily occurrence.  I love that Courtney is a huge fan of fruits and veggies but I have no delusions that that’s a long term thing.  I can see the writing on the wall where we’re fighting about eating that broccoli.  But fruits and veggies will always be a part of our daily diet and I want the kids to know that eating them isn’t a form of punishment.

All this to say that there are no resolutions here.  Just lifestyle corrections, getting things back on track.  The way we were eating and I was exercising before will be coming back to the forefront of our lives.  It’s not that we’ll never have another ice cream cone, slice of pizza or cinnamon bun again, we just won’t be having them every day.  There will be more meal planning, more whole grains, more fitting exercise into my life.  I do feel that I can find the time to focus on me while still being the best mother that I can.