I’ve spent the last week with a dozen or more “resolutions” floating around in my head. The more I thought about it the more overwhelming it seemed. There was no way I could accomplish all that I dreamed of. I can’t even keep up day to day sometimes. It was then that I realized I needed to build a foundation for me and my family before trying to attain my dreams and aspirations. So I have decided that for the first 6 months of 2009 I am setting myself only 2 goals: organization and child training. I really think I can make great strides towards meeting these goals in just 6 months, they are rather simple, but require great diligence on my part. Hopefully I can start July 2009 with new goals (reading, crafting, exercise, cooking) that will build on this foundation.
He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. Luke 6:48
Organization
My life today would best be described as scattered. I have very litte daily or weekly routine. I am overwhelmed by clutter. I’m no longer menu planning and my coupons are in disarray. Our finances are not in the best shape and we don’t have a workable budget. To make a long story short, I’m not able to be the wife and mother that I need to be because of severe disorganization.
To make things a little more interesting we are hoping to move sometime this year, and we have way too much stuff to move into any modest home anywhere we might go. We actually had an opportunity presented to us at the beginning of December to be moving right now, but it wasn’t the plan God had in store for us. I had gotten excited, thinking such a big change would be just what I needed to get all the little things in order. Instead, I’m getting the opportunity to get all the little things straight and hopefully be able to move in a much simpler, less stressful manner later this year.
I’m hoping to start by organizing the things that affect our everyday lives such as budgeting, menu planning, routines. As these basics begin to fall into place I’m planning a mega declutter session. We are going to have a huge yard sale this spring. I’m going to go through all 3 of our clothes (with hubby’s help of course) and then all of our boxes in Granny’s attic and our storage unit. I hope to have more boxes marked “Get Rid Of” than those marked “Keep” and maybe be able to downsize our storage unit.
Child Training
Bennett is a good boy, don’t get me wrong, we are very blessed. I do feel however that proper training while he is still little will prevent many of the common problems later on. I want to enjoy Bennett through every day and every stage of his life, so I need to start now teaching him right from wrong. I also hope to begin some Montessori-type activities with him later this year and use some of the techniques I gleaned from How To Teach Your Baby To Read. Like the rest of my life, I need to build a foundation.
I hope to work with Bennett in the coming months on obedience, starting with coming when called. I feel this is of utmost importance for safety reasons and a great start towards obedience. I also want to teach Bennett to sit still and quiet in my lap for a lenghtening amount of time. I want him to be able to sit still while we read books and at church and social functions. had hoped to work on this before now, but we were recently invited to a dear friend’s college graduation in May and I want Bennett to behave well. This is the motivation I need to begin working with him now to train him how to behave well. I also want to start Blanket Training. While I love having him with me as we go through our day, at times I need to be able to set him down and expect him to stay put, happily, for a short time.
How I’m Going To Do It
I’m going to try to spend at least 30 minutes every day organizing/decluttering something. Thirty minutes a day, five days a week for six months equals two-and-a-half days of working nonstop. Imagine all that can be accomplished in 60+ hours. I’m also going to try and spent 30 minutes a day working with Bennett on obedience and trying to make it fun and enjoyable for both of us. I’m going to hold myself accountable by posting updates (hopefully weekly) to keep track of my progress.
