Welcome to the January 2013 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Recovering from the Holidays This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have written about how their families get back to normal after the holidays are over.
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After a busy holiday season I’m ready to start fresh! How about you?
In many ways this will be happening naturally for our family as we prepare to move into our new home. I’ll be able to cleanse, purge and organize as we settle into new cupboards and rooms. Dominic is excited to set up shop, literally, this house has a shop and thanks to Pinterest and my boards he has a mountain of projects to begin. And Jemma and Max … they’re along for the ride :) If only they knew how thrilled they should be to have under stair play room!
I love that January and resolution/goals setting come right after the busiest time of year. When things get out of sorts (crazy bedtimes, visitors, travel, an upswing in crafting and lots of sweet treats) I feel refreshed to sit down and realign my goals. But this year, in addition to my personal goals, I’m also outlining a few goals for my two year old.
Don’t fear though, I’m not going all tiger mom, with New Year’s resolutions for my two year old. Rather, the goals I’m setting for Jemma are more goals for myself and my parenting of her. For all of 2012 I was either pregnant with or caring for our family’s latest addition. Luckily, Jemma’s Daddy, Aunts, and Grandma stepped in when I was unable and Jemma has absolutely flourished. But in 2013, I’m hoping I’ll be able to better invest in my daughter by being intentional with a few mama/daughter goals.
This year, Jemma and I are planning to …
- Practice the alphabet. She has already learned her colors and we talk about them all. day. long. Just this week, I was working on the computer while she was sitting on my lap and she pointed out the “O” and “W” and told me what they were. Yep, there is no doubt she is leading the way on this one!
- Visit the new children’s museum and zoo.
- Establish a media fast. This deserves an entire post in and of itself, but I wanted to mention it, because for now I’m interested in hearing what your family does in regard to TV/movies and phones/tablets. Please share!
- Give her tangible ways to help and interact with her brother. Jemma LOVES to hold Max, read him stories, and pat his back when he needs to burp. She also thinks it is fun to “help” him roll over by pushing him with a pillow – eek! Hence, I want to practice appropriate and fun ways to show our love.
- Begin a two half day/week preschool program. This goal will serve everyone in our family. Although I still have great hopes of homeschooling someday. I feel that right now, Jemma would greatly benefit from making a few friends and having some structured play. I’m excited to devote my attention to Max and give him a little of that one on one love that he craves (he is my cuddle bug for sure) too.
- Potty learn/train/teach. We’ve been talking about the potty for quite some time and Jemma has made it clear that she is a diaper girl. I’m not pushing her, but I’m continuing to present her with opportunities to embrace a diaper free life. Wish me luck, in order to accomplish the preschool goal, I have to accomplish the potty one :)
- Continue signing. Our communication is top notch these days between words and signs. Especially since Max is watching more, I want us to continue growing this avenue of communication.
- Be conscientious about the words we use. I want to focus on saying things like “different” and “unique” instead weird; “Disappointing” instead of dumb. Jemma’s vocabulary is booming and I want her to learn descriptive words versus words that don’t evoke much meaning and can therefore be hurtful.
On a role with “helping” Max already! He has been showing some signs of teething discomfort and Jemma has become his official banana teeth brusher :)
So, as you can see, goals for my two year old are really more parenting goals for me. A new leaf in my motherhood journey for this new year.
Did any of your 2013 goals revolve around parenting?
If so, I’d love to hear what you’re working towards!
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Visit Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting this March!
Visit Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting this March!Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:
- Pinterest Inspiration for Easier Winter Holidays Shannon, writing at Natural Parents Network, shares inspiration for having more relaxed winter holidays from their Handmade Holidays Pinterest board.
- Seven Recipes for Beans – Post Holiday Cleaning — Destany at They Are All of Me shares her favorite bean recipes that she hopes will help her body recover from overindulging her sweet tooth during the holidays.
- The Recovery in the Change — Laura at Pug in the Kitchen made changes in her life and attitude throughout 2012 and was pleasantly surprised at how those changes impacted her holiday recovery!
- Could this question change your life for ever? — To get your new year off on the right footing, Mrs Green of Little Green Blog is challenging us all to love ourselves with commitment and discipline. She asks you to focus on a simple question which might just bring you back in balance…
- Holiday Recovery — Meegs at A New Day talks about how the holidays can be overwhelming for a toddler, and how she’s helping her 3 year old recover.
- 5 Ways to Detox After the Holidays — Brittany at The Pistachio Project gives a few ways to help you detox and get back on track after the holiday season has passed.
- 3 Simple Ways to Establishing Rhythm After the Holidays or Any Time — Sheila at A Living Family shares 3 simple ways to reestablish a rhythm of connection and calm in your family after holidays, visitors, travel or any time.
- Gemstones For Holiday Hangoverss — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama delves into the power of gemstones as an often overlooked means of dealing with the holiday letdown.
- Getting back to Healthy — Bess at A Warrior Mom talks about the struggle of getting young ones back to eating healthy after several days to weeks of getting more candy and sweets than normal for the holidays and gives some suggestions on how to get them back to eating healthy in the new year.
- Post Christmas Juice Feast — Sam at Love Parenting explains why she has created a new tradition of juice feasting, and how she includes her toddler when detoxing.
- The Java Monkey On My Back — Christy at Eco Journey in the Burbs realizes it is time to kick her cup of Joe habit as a first step toward detoxing.
- Minimalist Holidays — Jorje of Momma Jorje doesn’t find much need for recovery after her minimalist version of the holidays.
- Do something for you — Lauren at Hobo Mama urges you to find a silly and indulgent reward of me-time — and she has hers.
- do we recover? — Kenna at Million Tiny Things wonders what recovery really means in the context of the tragedies of this past holiday season.
- 37 Easy Ways to Save Money — Shannon at GrowingSlower is sharing these money-saving tips to help get your budget back on track after the holidays.
- A Two Year Old’s Resolutions — That Mama Gretchen is putting the holidays behind her with a spin on traditional resolutions — New Year’s goals for her two-year-old! Sound crazy? Read on for an explanation!
- How to Find Balance after the Holidays — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now tells her favorite ways to start a new year with hope and calmness.
- Fresh Awakening — For Luschka at Diary of a First Child, the new year has coincided with a return to restful nights. With sleep, she’s found new directions in life, but while she can’t make too many changes to her life right now, she’s inspired and excited about the future.
- Learning to slow down after a busy Festive Season — Stoneageparent describes the joys and lows of this year’s festive season, as well as her New Year’s resolutions.
- Detoxing’ Your Toddler After the Holidays — Does your family suffer side effects from the holidays? Join Christine from African Babies Don’t Cry to learn how she detoxed herself and her toddler off the treats and festivities of the season.
- Scheduling is OK! — Jaye Anne at Wide Awake, Half Asleep explores the possibilities of the — SCHEDULE!!
- We’re Saving their First Christmas for Next Time — Mercedes at Project Procrastinot takes it easy after moving with her husband and new babies to Scotland.
- A Vacation from the World — Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children retreats with her family at the end of every year in order to recuperate and enjoy one another.
- On the Road to Recovery — Dionna at Code Name: Mama isn’t just recovering from the holidays, she’s recovering from a lifestyle.
- We Never Left the Grind — Erika Gebhardt compares a typical day pre-holidays and post-holidays.
- Remembering and Recovering from the Holidays (One day at a time) — Emily at S.A.H.M i AM is recovering from holidays slowly–taking one day at a time–while trying to remember all the sweet moments that passed too quickly.
- 5 a Day — To get back on track Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy needed a simple system to help her family learn new values.
- Holiday Detox & Healing: Bieler Broth — Megan at The Boho Mama shares her secret for a gentle, whole-foods-based post-holiday detox: Bieler Broth!
- I’m Mama Not Supermom — After a year filled with changes Angela at EarthMamas World has to remind herself that she does not have to be supermom while recovering from the holiday chaos.
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I had a whole post at the beginning of the year and I included a few goals for the kids too! I really want to teach Sylvi her colors and start diving into our schooling routine a little more with Liam.
Those sound like fun, achievable goals! You might be interested in these lists: http://www.cnvc.org/Training/feelings-inventory and https://www.cnvc.org/node/179 As for TV, we try to not do TV/video games every day, but on the days we do, I try very hard to limit it to 30 min. That often gets stretched, i.e., when Tom watches football with Kieran ;)Dionna @ CodeNameMama.com
Great goals! I hope you have a wonderful year together!We did not allow any television before age 2 or unsupervised watching before age 3. If you are doing that, too, then having Max around will naturally limit Jemma's viewing. In our family there's just one child, and once he was allowed to watch TV or use the computer without a parent doing it with him, the amount of time he spent on it began to spiral out of control! He's 8 now, and we've had these rules since he was 6:1. No more than 90 minutes of screentime per day. That's TV, videos, computer, and iPad all together. We got him a kitchen timer that he sets when using the computer or iPad, and before he starts watching a show we discuss how long it is. Exceptions to this rule can be made for special occasions such as watching a movie as a family or using the iPad while traveling.2. No screentime before school on school days.3. No screentime after 7:30pm (bedtime is 8:30) except by special parental permission–occasionally granted on weekends when something good is on.4. One dinner per week may be eaten on picnic cloth while watching TV. No eating while using computer or iPad.And a new rule this year:5. Beginning each Monday, no videos until he has completed at least 5 half-hour sessions of the online math games for his school competition. (We have mixed feelings about the fairness of this competition, since not all kids have Internet access from home, but the games are educational and much better for him than watching the same taped episodes of "The Simpsons" over and over again!)Here are my toilet-training tips. Good luck!
This is a fantastic list, and its great that you centered 'your' goals around parenting your daughter, my goals were all very self-involved ;) Advice on limiting the TV watching… get rid of the TV :) We decided to get rid of ours a couple of months ago and the change in us as a family has been remarkable, we are so much more productive, we spend evenings together as a family playing blocks with my son, or reading books. If we want to watch a movie after he is asleep then we watch it on the laptop :)
I hate moving, but I do appreciate the fresh start that it is by default.
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I agree with the timing of New Year's resolutions — there's something so refreshing about shaking off the excess!Your goals sound great. I also have the potty learning one in mind this year. I've been kind of slacker-y on that. :)Your point about using better words was really interesting and gave me a lot to think about!
Potty things are easy to slack on, I think. I keep going back and forth on really want to explore it and then getting tempted with new cloth diapers :)
That's what I'm looking forward to – the fresh start! Especially when I'm unpacking … if it doesn't have a purpose/place it isn't staying! I'm hoping to really minimize the "stuff" that clutters my life.
Thank you so much for sharing your TV guidelines! So helpful! When I was pregnant (and super tired) with Max I caved and started allowing too much TV because it was just easier to occupy Jemma so I could rest on the couch some. It has been a battle to cut back, but we are slowing weaning her away from screen time.
Love those resources! Thank you for sharing!
I definitely have some goals in mind for parenting my little one this year. I want to read to him more and help him to be more independent (and civilized?) at the dinner table. As for TV, our toddler doesn't get much screen time yet. We did a whole TV free week last year and it really changes our habits for the better.
Moving can be stressful, but I always loved the way I sorted through things I never would have otherwise. It really is a great time for a new start! I think it's awesome that you have some clear goals and a wonderful attitude for the start of the year! :)
There is a color-themed fish puzzle by Melissa & Doug – that's what started Jemma on her love of colors :)
What a great ideam resolutions for how you are going to parent your 2 year old, I feel inspired to do just the same as I parent my 2 year old this year! A lot of your resolutions are infact similar to mine for Ewan.
I love the idea of a kids resolution/goal list, lots of the same goals I have for Hayden this year too. We have loved signing and really trying to work on potty training before #2 arrives.
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