Wow, that’s a whole ‘nother year behind us. This year has been one of our busiest ones ever. Despite that, it’s been filled with a lot of goodness. And, more importantly, it’s been the smoothest year as a four-piece family by far.
For 2022, our word was consistency. I felt like we had some good stuff going on, but it was really difficult to keep it up for more than a couple of months—or to keep multiple balls juggling all at once.
When I selected that word last year, I had a few areas of improvement in mind: more consistency in showing up for myself in my workouts; keeping up Duolingo; parenting 2 kids with the skillfulness—or more of it, at least—as I did when we just had one; and getting into routines. Well, dear reader, I am pleased to say, I did hit my goals. Maybe crushed them.
- consistency in my workouts. Though I still feel there’s plenty of room for improvement (that’s just kinda who I am), I had several longer stretches of steady workouts—1 month; 2 months; even 3-4 months. It’s not where I was when I was 20, but I’m 10 years older, so that’s probably to be expected. I’m proud of the work I put in, and plan to keep it up in the new year.
- keeping up my duolingo steak. As of the last day of 2022, I have a 513 day streak. I am really proud of the habit I’ve formed, and how much it’s helped me learn.
- parenting 2 kids with more ease. This was a tough one. I felt I made tiny steps forward here and there, but it wasn’t until I read No Bad Kids that things really changed a lot. See, I’d read most parenting books when Gwendolyn was younger, and then tried to apply/tweak things for Harry. But this book I read with him in mind, and, though the concepts were familiar, they were phrased in just different enough a way to finally help me figure some things out.
- figuring out a routine. I have a love/hate relationship with routines. See, routines allow you to know what’s coming up, and ensures things get done. However, especially with young children, I really value open time to just play, or be spontaneous, However, at the end of last year, I felt we noticeably felt a lack of routine. Our summer was so busy, it forced us into a schedule, and then I had to very painstakingly craft schedule for the school year (with a million moving parts). But, ‘m happy to report, I think the familiar rhythm is helpful for us all. And using a calendar app, finally.
Looking back, I think we can be really proud of sticking to + fixing up so many important things.
Having done so much with our last year, for 2023, I was us to
f o c u s
We had SO MANY wonderful experiences last year. That being said, there were 2-3 periods where I felt we were going to hard, with too much in our schedule. Todd felt it. And I think Gwendolyn felt it too. So, this coming year, I want us to dial it in a bit. Seize opportunities, try new things, sure, but I want us to also miss out, if our schedule is already full. I, personally, plan to try and slash my phone usage by most, to be more focused on the present.
I’m excited for 2023, and hope we can narrow our focus, and slow down, and enjoy our less-busy time more.
