My 2012 New Year’s Parenting Resolutions
I have plenty of adult resolutions, too … clean up after myself, stop leaving my clothes laying of the bathroom floor, and play less Angry Birds. But I also have a separate little iPhone app filled with parenting resolutions and ideas. I’m trying to make them simple enough to actually. I came up with 6, and hopefully I’ll actually do ’em. Wish me luck. Remember, if your kids are acting up, champagne tastes just as elegant in a sippy cup.
1. Make interesting meals. It seems the only things my boys want to eat are hot dogs, chicken nuggets, pizza and candy, lots of candy. I know this is not the healthiest of choices so I’m hoping we can find some fruits and veggies that the boys will enjoy. I’m sure their dentist will appreciate it.
I have dreams of cooking from this vintage Winnie the Pooh cookbook, which came out in 1969. The recipes might not be the healthiest (spoiler alert: there’s a lot of honey), but now that Jordan has his very own kitchen I think he’ll enjoy “baking” alongside me. On weekends, anyway.
2. Go to bed earlier and get up earlier. Not quite sure what happened here. Before I had my boys, I kept the hours of a grandfather: In bed at 8, up at 5:30. Lately, though, I’ve been staying up later and later … and then languishing in bed. When Jordan starts whining and saying “I want to go downstairs”, or one of the other boys comes barging into our bedroom, I’m not exactly perky and delighted to see them. I’d love to wake up earlier, if only so I don’t greet him each morning looking like Edward Scissorhands.
3. Go on more “field trips to the park.” We used to go 3-4 times a week to any of the 10 parks around our house. The boys used to be regulars at our neighborhood playgrounds, but now that they are in school, the time to hang out at the park has been replaced by the time to get their homework done followed by the need to watch Peppa Pig and other Nick Jr. TV shows.
4. Discriminate and eliminate: toys, that is. Our house resembles a Toys R Us storage warehouse. In the family room, in the living room, in our garage, that used to house our expensive cars, are all now are filled with boxes of toys. Lego’s of indiscriminate origin, Power Rangers and Transformers are scattered throughout the house, weird felt shapes with tags sticking off them, blocks that are probably a choking hazard, and pencils with no erasers alongside broken crayons. Some of the toys will go into storage, some will go to charity, and some are going to my favorite place: the trash!
5. Establish a better bedtime routine. My three boys have taken it upon themselves to make a schedule of when they will go to sleep and when they will wake up. Problem is they do it in shifts. Going to bed early and waking up early is Jordan’s routine, while Jun and Jon prefer to stay up late and wake up late, often times a half hour before school starts.
Jordan’s routine is that he will whine and whine for something like a glass of milk or some chicken nuggets. By the time you have prepared them for him, he has managed to fall asleep. Just like his Uncle Ford, Jordan can fall asleep just about anywhere and in any position.
Jun and Jon’s bedtime routine consists of running around to find two or more stuffed toys to take with them to bed. 10 minutes of whining about wanting the iPad so they can watch Netflix before they drift off to sleep. I think I will make a new rule where they have to brush their teeth before they can have the iPad. Makes me wonder why I didn’t think of that before. At least this year I was able to get them out of our bedroom and sleeping their own bedroom… for the most part.
6. Spend less time on my iPhone and computer. I’m not sure if I think Facebook will blow up or the world will end if I actually shut off my electronic devices for a few hours, but I do know that I always have my computer open and that I break into hives when my iPhone isn’t in reach. I think my endless time spent on-line has been a big influence on my kids as they are fully functional in the use of computer, our iPad and iPhones. I also need to change our passwords because there a lot of new and strange apps showing up that I have no recollection of purchasing.
If you have any parenting resolutions, feel free to share ’em. Hopefully these last beyond January!