The new year can be a stressful time for working moms. It comes smack-dab in the middle of the holiday season, one of the busiest times of the year for a mom who has to juggle work with orchestrating festivities and buying presents. But just around the corner from Dec. 31 is a brand new start.
So what resolutions should you make as a working mom? You don’t want to pick goals that are too outlandish to achieve, but you don’t want to set your sights too low.
John Duffy, author of “The Available Parent: Radical Optimism for Raising Teens and Tweens,” told Cleveland.com that being more grateful is an easy step that all harried parents can take to imbue their lives with a little more meaning. Instead of falling into the same holes of nagging your kids to get their chores done, focus on the things they actually do for you. This doesn’t mean giving up on your parenting strategies, but focusing on the positives can be much more impactful for everyone involved.
However, you might be better off not making any resolutions at all. Parenting blogger Kathy Radigan explained that forcing yourself into a preconceived goal can actually hold you back from other things that come up during the next year. Resolutions narrow your perspective into a single action, such as losing weight or reading more, so you might miss what these goals are really all about – making yourself a better person one step at a time.
If you can juggle resolutions with all your motherly responsibilities at work and at home, then go for it. If not, just know that you’ve got enough on your plate already without having to cram a hollow resolution onto it, too.