Monday, December 30, 2013

5 GOALS TO A HAPPIER LIFE IN 2014


In 2013, I had a couple pretty big life changing events happen. In June we welcomed baby #2, our Big Boy. This addition resulted me not being able to return to work due to the high cost of daycare. So I became a stay at home mom!!

I was really excited to not have to go back to work and be able to just stay home with my kids every day. I hated waking Princess up so early to just drop her off at daycare for 10 hours every day. Most days she just wanted to stay home, too.

When I first thought about staying home with my kids, I thought it would be so great. It is, really, but it’s also a lot more difficult than I had ever thought. You don’t really think about it, but when you have to go to work you develop a routine and a schedule to get everything done. But when you aren’t required to be up at a certain time it’s difficult to get dressed before noon. Then comes all of the chores and responsibilities. You keep telling yourself it will get done, but unless you set a specific day and time to get it done, it probably won’t get done.

So the key to being a stay at home mom and not just sitting around in your PJ’s all day and eating junk is to have a routine and a schedule. I failed at this. It’s been almost 7 months since our Big Boy was born, and I have yet to develop a routine of any kind.

I have let a lot of things go, like cleaning, bills, spending one on one time with my husband and my daughter, and most of all myself. So to fix this, I have come up with 5 goals that will help fix these problems and hopefully make me and my family happier in the New Year.

Goal #1:               MONTHLY DATE NIGHTS WITH THE HUSBAND

 It is so important for couples with children to make time to be together without the children. It becomes extremely difficult when I am always home with the kids. So making time to have a date night at least once a month, completely away from the children, is very important. It will not only strengthen our relationship but will also help stabilize our family. Our kids will grow up seeing that we will always make time to be together. I plan to set one day every month and make plans to go out. It doesn’t always have to be extravagant or anything. Just having a couple hours to go to dinner or something will be enough. Occasionally, if the finances allow, we will do something extra special. I plan to use some ideas that I find here at The Dating Divas.

Goal #2:               ONE ON ONE TIME WITH MY DAUGHTER

This is so important to me because I don’t do this enough. Since the baby came, I have noticed my daughter and I have not been getting along very well. Every day we fight. She is constantly pushing the boundaries with me and I have lost my patience with her. She is not nicknamed Princess for no reason. She definitely requires a lot of patience. So, I am hoping that by spending at least 30 minutes of one on one time with her every day it will help us to get along better. This time can be spent dong anything other than watching T.V. We could play barbies, or work on her letters, or paint. Just so that it’s about me and her. No little brother or even Dad. I have a ton a ideas on my Pinterest board for Educational Activities. As well as just some fun arts and crafts activities that will help keep these fun for her and easy for me!

Goal #3:                               LOSE 30 LBS BY JUNE 1ST

So I had lost most of the weight I had gained with baby #2 by just a few weeks postpartum. I was pretty proud of myself for it, too. But as the time has gone by, I have gained almost all of it back. I am so mad at myself for letting this happen. Especially that since I am always home, using the, I don’t have time excuse, doesn’t work. I have no excuse but pure laziness. So I have decided that if I lose 5 lbs a month, starting in January, I will be back down to a good healthy weight. Once I reach that goal I will set another goal depending on how much I still need to lose. But, I think that 5lbs a month is pretty doable.

Goal #4:               GET INTO A ROUTINE AND CLEANING SCHEDULE

I never thought it would be so difficult to keep up on the daily responsibilities when you’re home every day. But it is very difficult when you don’t have a boss telling what needs to be done and when. It’s especially difficult because there isn't really a start and end time for this “job”. It’s a 24/7 job, so it is easy to just say I’ll do it later or tomorrow. It’s a bad habit and I need to break it. So I am hoping that by setting up a scheduled routine, I can break out of this vicious cycle I am in. I have tried this many times already and I think the reason I keep giving up on it is because I’m trying to do too much in the beginning. I think that if I start small with just doing a few things every day, then slowly working up to a bit more, I will be able to stick to it. My plan is to have some daily chores that have to be done every day, like the dishes and picking up toys and clutter. Once I get good at keeping up on the day to day stuff, I will start adding in weekly chores. But I need to make sure to give myself a couple days to have a free day. That way I can have a “day off” if I want or catch up if I missed a chore on another day. This is my favorite example of a cleaning schedule that I found on Pinterest.

Goal #5:               PAY EVERY BILLS ON TIME EVERY MONTH

Now, for some, this may seem like no problem and you’re probably thinking why this would be on my top 5 goals. Well anyone that knows me, knows I am probably the most forgetful person ever! I have always struggled with remembering to do things. I used to get into so much trouble as a kid because of this problem. My parents never believed when I told them I had forgotten. But I think now they know, it was pretty true. I think I can incorporate this goal in with my routine. If I set times every week to take care of the finances, I think I can get it under control. This is the Bill Binder that I use to help keep my bills organized.

So, there you have it. My five goals that I hope will make my life easier, make my family and me happier, and maybe even teach my kids a thing or two about responsibilities and motivation.

What goals are you setting for yourselves for the New Year? 
And, no, I am not going to call them New Year’s Resolutions, because I plan to continue these well after the year 2014.  


6 comments:

daniela said...

I love this list. I definitely am going to use those cleaning lists! Thanks for the tips!

xo
Daniela

Creative K Kids said...

Hi, Brandi! I found your blog from Mommy Bloggers Share. I just wanted you to know that I am doing posts on my goals as well. I already did one on my personal priorities and it had a link up for goal posts (look on my side bar under top posts for the personal priorities one) and I'm doing a more indepth one on Thursday with a linky as well. We also have a facebook group that will be blogging the last Friday of every month saying how we are doing on our goals, and we will all be putting the linky on our posts. Let me know if you would like to join the group or you could just link up! I'm glad to meet you, and you have some great goals! (Tammy @ http://creativekkids.com)

Scarlett @Scarletts Excellent Adventures said...

Being a SAHM is hard! Don't beat yourself up too much on the cleaning....IT NEVER ENDS....really...never! I'm soooo sick of loading the darned dishwasher, just to empty and reload. I like having a clean house, but some things certainly have slid a bit. Making a date night is a great pkan. My hubby & I found it a little rocky after forgetting about our relationship. It really doesn't do auto-pilot.

Unknown said...

Great goals! So excited to be able to follow your blogging adventure too :) Miss you!

Anonymous said...

Great list thanks so much for sharing it.
Angie @ inmy30sanditstime.com

FloridaMommy said...

I don't know how you do it! I tried the SAHM thing with my first and I had Cabin Fever, it was terrible. even before kids, the Housewife thing.....can't do it.

I needed a part time job just for my sanity. I give TONS of credit to Housewives and SAHM's! It's not easy! AT ALL!