This Year You’ll Resolve to…

If you’re like me, you are going to make, or already have, a New Year’s Resolution or two or three. No one agrees on the single most popular resolution, but high up on a lot of lists are losing weight (some 71 million of us are dieting) and/or spending more time with family.

By February, at least one-third of resolution makers have abandoned their good intentions because their goals were unrealistic (get a new job; reduce stress, for example) or too big and generalized (like save money or get fit). Breaking resolutions down into smaller, specific goals makes them far more attainable.  

If you put Spending More Time with Your Children on your resolution list this year, here are ideas to make you one of the rare people who can stick to what they promise themselves. Instead of planning to spend an afternoon with your children twice a week, focus of small blocks of time—say, five minutes or so which you are far more likely to be able to do.

Finding Those Minutes

Here are some easy ways:

• Put away your Blackberry or cell phone once you walk in the door.

• Check your e-mail and return phone calls after the children are in bed.

• Lighten up your and your children’s schedules by eliminating an activity or two.

• If you volunteer, do so at your child’s school or with his or her sports team so you can be together.

• Say "NO" to nonessential commitments that keep you away when your children are home.

• Involve your children in dinner preparation (even a three-year-old can tear lettuce for the salad).

Sharing Your “Found” Minutes

Don’t overwhelm yourself by trying to do all 16 suggestions. Pick your favorites and repeat them frequently during your newly found time. Keeping this New Year’s Resolution will go a long way in building lasting bonds with your children and their fond memories of growing up...and of you.

• After dinner, turn up the radio and dance with your children for a few minutes.
• Include your children in meal planning. Children have surprisingly good suggestions.
• Prepare the grocery list together.
• Create a song with the names of all family members and sing it in the car on the way to a practice or lesson or at bedtime.
• Express your opinions. Sharing values and beliefs lets your children know what and how you think.
• Save their schoolwork in a box with each child’s name on it, "Mike -- 2nd Grade," to demonstrate your interest. Do this together daily or once a week. It will encourage them to work harder.
• Ask your children on a regular basis what was the best and worst part of their day—and tell them yours.
• Act silly. For example, chase your child through the house or pretend to be an airplane and soar down on him. Be ridiculous!
• Never be too busy to watch your children's homemade magic or puppet shows and plays. Get into it; clap loudly!
• Teach your child a card trick or card game.
• Grow a plant. You might stick toothpicks in a sweet potato or an avocado pit and put it in a glass of water near a kitchen window. Check it every few days with your children.
• Spend five minutes before dinner tossing a baseball or kicking a soccer ball around. It's a great way to relax and start a conversation.
• Take your child for an unexpected treat, like an ice cream or doughnut, after visiting the doctor.
• Invite the children to lick the beaters or bowl whenever you bake. Or, ask them to “test” the finished product.
• Start a pillow fight.
• Involve your children when making plans for the upcoming weekend.
• For more ideas arranged in timeframes like half-an-hour; over the weekend…, see Little Things Long Remembered.