March 1, 2013
In Gretchen Rubin’s book The Happiness Project she puts together a monthly focus and specific goals pertaining to that month. Everyone is going to choose different subjects to focus on. We all different passions, priorities, responsibilities, etc. The following are my month focuses:
March: My Kids: My oldest has a lot of extra days off from school in March due to Spring Break and a teacher’s conference. It gives me the perfect opportunity to bond with my kids and appreciate my role as a mom.
April: Health & Wellness: Exercise, healthy eating, routines etc.
May: My House: I did a pretty intense “winter cleaning” project this past month, but I know come May all my efforts will be “undone” and there will be other things to tackle…things I have put off for a very long time.
June: God: Spiritual life and faith
July: Mental Health: positive thinking and learning more about anxiety and depression
August: Marriage: My husband’s birthday is in August so I thought this would be a perfect month to focus on him.
September: Friends: Now that the majority of my close friends have kids in school, the summer to fall transition is crazy. I had many stressed out friends in September.
October: World Missions: I have always had a heart for mission specifically the places I visited (Eastern Europe & Indonesia). I want my kids to learn more about missions.
November: Community: Over the past few years I have become more interested in community development and how specifically my family can be involved in our neighborhood and community. God didn’t have us live here for no reason.
December: Traditions: I love embracing the traditions of the holidays and focusing on Advent.
January: Pursue a Passion: Running: Only those who are die hard runners will understand it. My passions have changed over the years or disappeared, but I have LOVED running since I got lost running on a county road by all these cow pastures outside of Coopersville, Michigan in April of 2001. I did manage to find my way home and I realized I ran 5 miles! I could run!
February: Art: Last night at youth group the middle schoolers were remarking how good of a drawer I am. I used to LOVE to draw, paint, etc. I took extracurricular art classes in middle school. I would love to try some different types of art with my kids and on my own.
Each month is divided into separate goals. I will post them at the beginning of that month. There a few personal goals I am not posting, but the vast majority I will reveal.
Here is the month of March:
Focus: The Kids
- Have a different “theme” days during the oldest child’s day off like “Craft Day,” “Nature Day,” “Fun in the Kitchen” day.
- Speak in the positive. Have you never noticed how negative we moms are!? ”Don’t do that!” ”Stop touching that!” ”Your room is a pit.” We CAN speak in the positive.
- Focus on the role God called me to be: As I said, I never thought I would be a full time stay-at-home mom and never for this many years. I want to reflect more on the blessings of this calling.
- Smile in the morning: My kids can be upbeat and happy in the morning and I can be…well…a grump. I am trying to smile right after my alarm goes off…and it’s SO hard.
- Go roller skating: I want to do something “vintage” with my oldest. It helps me appreciate the joys of my own childhood and share it with her.
FYI: I will be posting about The Happiness Project every Monday. Please follow along. If you find it boring, do not read my blog on Mondays.
Posted by artoornstra in Mental Health & Self Care, Mom Stories, Raising little ones Tags: anxiety, Bible, boys, Christian education, creating memories, family time, friendship, happiness project, kid's activities, kids arts and crafts, missions, running
