New Years Resolutions

It's been ten days now since Bronchitis set in and ruined my winter vacation but I'm officially done wallowing. With New Year's Eve rapidly approaching I feel compelled to reflect back on 2009 and look ahead to 2010. During numerous conversations with friends I declared that 2009 had passed me by when the truth is that I let it pass me by. I got caught up in volunteerism, school stuff, sickness and family drama and missed out on all of the good stuff, the important stuff.

It's true 2009 has not been a very good year. We were plagued with illness and injury and medical bills galore but as I always tell my kids, it could have been worse. I have been blessed with: a wonderful family, many good friends, a nice home, great neighbors, fabulous teachers and my husband has a great job with health insurance. The list of good things goes on and on.

So this year while I have many resolutions, the main one is to focus on myself. While that may seem a tad narcissistic it is an absolute must. For years I have focused my life on making everyone around me happy without ever really thinking about what makes me happy. This year I will not let life pass me by. I plan on letting my guard down, trying new things and seeing where life takes me.

So here goes, My New Years Resolutions for 2010:

1. Focus on my health: exercise, decrease stress level and eat healthier food

2. Discover new hobbies

3. Take a little time each day for myself: reading, writing, listening to music, meditating, etc.

4. Enjoy my kids: I spend so much time trying to do and be everything for them that sometimes I forget to enjoy spending time with them

5. Enjoy life: each day is a gift

Life Stories

Most of my friends know that I am definitely not a morning person. It takes me several cups of very strong coffee and about 30 minutes to myself to begin to function in the morning. It's not that I feel the need to share my morning ritual or the fact that I need a caffeine jump-start to get me moving in the morning. I tell you this to prove a point. Anything said to me first thing in the morning may go unprocessed for several hours or in this case several days.

Last week Max came to me first thing in the morning while I was making lunches. He looked quite adorable with his mini notepad and his pencil poised to take notes. Did I mention he can't read or write yet? Anyway, he looks up at me with his pool blue eyes and in his most serious voice says "momma, tell me your life story". At first I brushed him off. Then I thought to myself, I have a captive audience here. I better start talking. There's no telling when this opportunity might present itself again. So I did and he took notes like any illiterate four year old would. He sounded out the first letter of each word and printed it as neatly as possible on his note pad. Beaming with pride at his accomplishment he walked away and began reciting what he had written. It wasn't until many days later that I realized that this exercise might not seem important to me but it was for him.

Most of the information I know about my family came from stories that occurred around a large dining room table at a holiday. I was always eager to listen, learn and more often than not, laugh as each family member told stories of their youth. In fact, I looked forward to the next holiday with anticipation hoping that this years stories would be even better than the previous ones.

While my children will not have the same opportunity to hear stories around a holiday table filled with family, we can still pass on our life stories. For it is not the manner of how they are passed that is important but simply that they are shared. So when your child comes and asks for your life story start chatting it up you'll be amazed at what they absorb.