Ahhhh the new year! Theres so much to look forward to…a whole brand spankin’ new year to make yours. Most look forward to the fresh start January 1st brings in, and I’ll go ahead and put it out there, who doesn’t?!?! The thought of a fresh start, getting healthy, spending less can be quite exciting for anyone! While I too love starting off my new year eating cleaner and getting in a few more walks around the block, there’s quite a bit more I look forward to as my family rings in the new year.
I find that my goals for any new year are heavily influenced by the three or four months preceding January 1st. Every year, September all the way up to December 24th is my busy season. I spend day in and day out working like a mad woman, running on about four hours of sleep, photographing and editing ever single spare minute of the day I have. I don’t cook and can barely muster up the energy to clean after three boys have wreaked havoc on every square foot of our house. Lunches slowly stop getting packed and are replaced with the oh-so-convenient school lunches. I’ll admit that laundry gets forgotten, and there are one too many times that Kade goes without socks. Needless to say, my boys end up on the back burner. It doesn’t ever happen intentionally…it just happens. I get into work mode, and they take a step back from their sleep deprived mama and buddy up with daddy.
As the new year rolls in and my “busy season” slowly rolls out, the fog that my brain has had over it the past few months starts to lift. I sit and think, as I think most do, about what the past year has brought me. What were the ups and what were the downs? I think about what I can learn from and what to grow from. The urge to step up my mama game is unlike any other. My absolute most important goal going into any new year is to be a better mother, admit my faults and learn from them. I mean, I feel like I’m a pretty good one most of the time but seriously, did you read that horror up top?! I think it’s safe to say I have some resolving to do after it all.
So, what exactly does this mama look forward to in 2015?
- I look forward to not only packing lunches again but the few extra minutes I get to spend with the boys as they help me put everything just so.
- I actually get excited about staying on top of my laundry! YES, I totally just said that! In all honesty, when one of your child’s PreK teachers makes a joke about how many times he doesn’t have socks….it’s definitely not something you want brought to light when your up for mother of the year award 😉 <<I’ll insert here that he DID have socks on cold days. On warm days, getting to school on time was more important>>
- Cooking dinner is totally on! The endless nights of freezer meals and pizza are FINALLY over! I’ll get to cook and provide healthy, home cooked meals for my boys. For a girl that loves to cook, this makes me VERY happy.
- The house might actually get cleaned (once, maybe twice) and ::fingers crossed:: will look like someone lives there more often than not.
- My days of frustration with the boys are over, for the most part. Running on such little sleep for a long time tends to wear on a girl, resulting in a mama that is easily aggravated with simple requests. I can honestly say that filling those sippy cups all day long, over and over without the feeling of annoyance, makes my mama heart happy.
Reading back over this, I realize I’ve got many faults, some of which I probably could have kept to myself, but they are faults and they are real. I’m a real mom, with a real life and with real faults. As mothers, we all naturally want to do our best for our children. We want clean rooms for them and to put fresh, wholesome meals on the table at dinner. We want endless amounts of patience. And we want time with them, without distraction and full of memories. Falling short of that can induce the feeling of defeat as a mother. But the truth is (because there is always truth) that it’s ok. It’s ok if we fall short every now and then and it’s ok admitting it.
So here’s to a new year! Here’s to you, and you, and YOU! Here’s to the working moms, the stay at home mommies, and the ones out there like me who do both. Here’s to the most fabulous year you can write! My hope for you is the hope for my own family, that your 2015 is filled with lots of love, tons of laughter and a lifetime of memories. Happy New Year, Y’all!
