My Parenting Resolutions for 2018

‘Tis the season for making new year’s resolutions. And since parenting is a practice that requires self-reflection and self-improvement, I thought I would outline some goals for how I want to parent in 2018:

Resolution 1: Get off my phone!
I’m on my phone too much when I’m playing with A. I want to be present and joyful during the hours of the day I get with him, but that compulsion to pick up my phone is so strong sometimes! I’ve noticed that I’ll just scroll through instagram while I’m playing with him. Don’t get me wrong–I think sometimes we all need a little mental break (and it’s good for A to learn to play by himself). But I don’t want that to be a daily habit. My resolution is to put my phone on the other side of the room during playtime. Simple.

Resolution 2: Talk to my husband about my blog posts.
In the first month or two of this blog, I would have in-depth conversations with my husband about that week’s post. Not only did it improve the quality of the post, but it also improved our co-parenting. We are a team and taking some time to chat explicitly about our parenting philosophies and practices is really helpful. My resolution is to talk to him every Wednesday about what I’m posting that week.

Resolution 3: Don’t criticize my husband’s parenting. 
Don’t get me wrong–I’m not PARTICULARLY critical of how my husband interacts with A. But I’ve noticed that I correct my husband’s parenting sometimes. For example, if my husband and A are roughhousing (which A LOVES), I will tell my husband to be careful or to stop. Or if my husband is doing bath time or bedtime, I tell him exactly how I do it and expect him to follow that model. But there’s not ONE right way to do bath time and bedtime. My husband has his own rhythm as a parent, and that’s ok. When I feel myself having an urge to correct my husband, I’ll talk a deep breath and walk away.

Resolution 4: Encourage A to clean up after himself.
Now, this one is actually something I think we do quite well. He has been really interested in cleaning up his dishes after dinner. He will help clean up his toys when we ask him to. But I want to make that a daily habit. Currently, we ask him to help clean up his toys no more than once or twice a week. My resolution is to have him clean up before bedtime every day.

I’m taking next week off, so I’ll see you in 2018!

Happy New Year,
Olivia