Resolutions

I have never liked New Year’s resolutions—mostly because I really suck at making them a reality. A whole year seems like an awfully long time to make a commitment to something. I admire people who can stick to their resolutions, but for me, most of them go out the window come February. So this year, I am trying a different approach. First of all, I decided not to even bother making any resolutions until the month of February. Secondly, I am not committing to anything for a year, but three months seems like a more reasonable expectation. So here is what I am thinking.

1. I resolve to lose weight.
I gained about 40 pounds when I was pregnant with Baby (and up till now, I lost only 15 of them—and nine of those was Baby himself! I initially lost more, but my holiday cookie-baking extravaganza did not help matters, neither did my long-standing addiction to chocolate and complete absence of will power). Add to that the 10 remaining pregnancy pounds I never lost after having Child and about five pounds I gained during the pregnancy that went nowhere, and you will see why my pant size has pretty much doubled in the last five years. I am 40 pounds heavier that I was before children. I am not foolish enough to think that I can get back to my pre-children body, but I can at least make a dent on the scale (no pun intended). So I join Sarah in the weight loss challenge.

2. I resolve to be a better friend.
I’ve been focused on myself and my own misfortunes for what feels like a very long time. I have missed birthdays, anniversaries and graduations, and I feel very, very selfish. Sending a birthday card or dropping a “how are you?” e-mail doesn’t take much, but it may mean a lot to the recipient.

3. I resolve to spend more quality time with my husband.
In the next three months, I want to go on at least three dates. Just the two of us. We have a great relationship, but life gets in the way, daily tasks take over, kids take center stage, and we find ourselves moving around each other, not together. I think it is fairly normal when you have young children, and I am not at all concerned about us, but I would very much welcome more opportunities to reconnect, to get closer instead of moving in parallel lines. Because life is so busy and so full of responsibilities, every marriage runs a risk of transforming the two people into business partners. And I refuse to let that to happen to us.

4. I resolve to write about my children.
In the fall of 2006, I started a blog about Child. It is a collection of short letters addressed to him, with simple stories from his life. My memory is notoriously poor, so I needed something to help me remember. And perhaps some day Child would be interested in reading these stories, too. Using a blog as a vehicle enabled me to make entries from anywhere since I could access it on any computer. I wrote fairly regularly for a while, but my last entry was almost a year ago. So I need to get back to writing down these stories--and writing them for Baby, too.

…And to round out the list, one last very important item:

5. I resolve to floss my teeth every day.
Gotta take care of those pearly whites.

So in early May, I shall update you on my progress. Wish me luck. God knows, will power is not one of my strengths.