Call me crazy but I’m more motivated now than I’ve ever been on New Year’s Eve for making resolutions! I don’t recall feeling like this in the past on the first day of school! Perhaps it is because my youngest becomes a teenager tomorrow and I’m feeling the passage of time hit me like a brick.
I’m feeling the need to get in shape and I actually went running this morning! My close friends (and my husband) are DYING laughing to hear this but it is true. The “couch potato to 5K” app is awesome. I’m definitely not a couch potato…more like a sit at my desk and work too much potato but the app is working for me nonetheless!
I also told my kids last night at dinner that I have a new resolution regarding waking them up in the morning. I. AM. NOT. GOING. TO. DO. IT. ANYMORE! The look of surprise on their faces was hilarious. I asked y’all for “get out of the bed strategies” last week and decided I liked the tough approach! You can see all the comments here and add your ideas too! I’m giving them a grace period this week and offered to buy new alarm clocks or whatever they need. But, it is their responsibility to get out of bed by themselves. It worked this morning but after the excitement of being “back to school” wears off I could be in trouble. We’ll see.
I’m a pretty organized kind of girl and it drives me insane that my kids are NOT. So another resolution is to get them organized. Their baseball stuff is fairly organized but school work and other activities… not so much. I’ll be working on this one for a while but would love suggestions to share with Aha! about how your kids organize their calendars, their homework, their after school activities etc.
Finally, I want my kids to learn more about compassion and service to others during this school year. We’re kicking off this resolution on Saturday. Our entire family is signed up to help with Foodstock at DUMC. Please come join us…it is open to all who want to help regardless of age, race, or religion!
I’d love to know if you have “back to school resolutions” and if you have any ideas to share about helping your kids get organized. I don’t want to do it for them…but I want to help them organize themselves!
Hi Audra, you are hilarious! I have this issue with Katie, not Ryan. Ryan is good about getting to back between 9 & 10 pm, waking himself up in the morning, showering, then eating everything in sight (it’s frightening how much he’s eating, really). Katie seems to need a lot more sleep, so even if she’s asleep by 10, she’s struggling to get up by 7. Right now, and I hope this lasts, I’ve told her to set her alarm (no excuses there, they all have alarms on their phones) and get herself up and to the bus stop by 8. Sadly, this morning I had to leave by 7:30 and Chip had an 8 am dentist appt. (what was he thinking?), so no one captured that first day of school photo. However, she made it on the bus on time, so I’m optimistic she can do it again. I have not come up with any great motivation for her, but as a brand new teenager herself, she’s asserting her independence more and more each day, so I hear a lot of “mom I can do it” or “mom I know”, “mom you already told me” etc. As the school year progresses, I’m sure I’ll still be struggling with how to get her going, so I welcome any tips from your readers about getting kids going in the morning and eating a healthy breakfast. I just read a big article at work about the importance of eating a healthy breakfast, especially protein. The failure to eat a healthy breakfast can have lasting effects all day, even if you snack mid morning and eat a good lunch. Actually, eating a healthy breakfast should be a back to school resolution. Thanks Audra! By the way, I’m so glad Troy is at DHS. I hope he enjoys it and is challenged. Ryan has had a great experience so far.