I’ve known Tom for 11 years, and this is the first year he hasn’t mentioned making New Year’s Resolutions (or, more appropriately, New Year’s Goals). 

Tom and I haven’t talked about goals or why we are or aren’t going to set goals, but if I’m going to be completely honest, it’s hard to think about self-improvement these days. We’ve been parents for almost 17 months, but we don’t have the hang of it at all. We clean up our living room and wipe David’s nose for pictures so things look decent, but most days we’re overwhelmed by the combination of laundry, dishes, meals, shopping, maintaining friendships, church involvement, being a good employee, exercise, spending time with our son, spending time together, and also Downton Abbey Season 3 just started, so…you know…

Plus, I don’t think a life has to be organized and “under control” to be well-lived. In fact, I think that, for me, it’s the other way around. I’ll never be a “together” person; I leave my wallet on the counter at the grocery store and am ok with leaving the dishes for tomorrow. And you know what? I sort of like that about myself.

This year I have fewer goals, and I’m them with the aforementioned things in mind: 1) I (we) already have plenty on my plate 2) I don’t need to change who I am.

1) Brush my teeth before 1 p.m.
Please tell me I’m not the only mom who doesn’t brush her teeth or wash her face until nap time. Sometimes I’ve even gone to the park, the grocery store, or the pediatrician, but still haven’t had a chance to wash my face or brush my teeth…until nap time. Here’s the deal: David tries to play in the toilet, trash can, shower or unroll the toilet paper anytime I go into the bathroom, so I try to minimize my time in there. But 1 p.m.!? That’s just gross.

2) Exercise
Exercise isn’t a big change for me because I love to exercise. I love how it feels while I’m doing it and how it makes me feel overall. But since I’m not working toward any specific fitness goals right now (weight loss or training for a race) I always want to keep it on the list because it’s something I always want to prioritize.

3) Eat lots of fruits and vegetables
It feels a little arbitrary to make lifestyle goals on January 1, but nutrition goals make complete sense. After nearly two months of gorging on huge portions of high-fat, high-sugar holiday food, we could all use a spinach salad, me included. Back to lots of fruits, vegetables, and whole wheat for the next 10 months.

4) Get back on budget
Speaking of fruits and vegetables, I hate when strawberries are like $4 a pint. Tom and I like to keep a tight grocery budget. Usually I LOVE following the budget; I look at it as a competition with myself. But at the end of this year I got lazy and stopped meal planning or sticking to my list. But I’ll get back on the horse. I promise, Tom. (That is, if you promise to buy me a horse with all the money I save…)

5) Blog on!
I started this blog a year and a half ago I was hesitant to start, but when David was born my sister asked me to start one so she could see lots of photos of him. Before I became a mom I was a writer, and I love writing in this particular medium (no assignments, no deadlines, no editor…). We have some blog goals — mostly to keep things current. My personal goal is to post two times a week, gather up a few more followers, and we’re planning on giving the blog a facelift very, very soon.

6) Reduce clutter, and all that
This is different than becoming more organized (which would be a fruitless goal for me). This is more about buying less, getting rid of more, and being purposeful about what we have and bring into our home. We got rid of 21 bags last year. We still have more work to do.

7) Read my Bible daily
This was a goal last year, and it’s a goal again. David gets up early, naps about an hour and a half a day, and runs me ragged the rest of the time. Basically what I’m trying to say is: I have lots of excuses.

I think that’s all. Except that I’d also like to have hair like Kate Middleton. I’ll put that under “brush my teeth before 1 p.m.”

What are you goals? Let’s all resolve to be better, more sparkly people in 2013. People who eat vegetables and brush their teeth.

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