As we say goodbye to one year and look toward the next, our minds are naturally drawn to resolutions, goals and changes we can make to have a fresh start.
When making resolutions as a family, it’s important to keep the bigger picture in mind and seek progress over perfection. We’ve gathered a few ideas for resolutions you might make with your family to have a bright and healthy New Year.
Family Dinner & Time Together
Research shows family meals together provide a plethora of benefits: emotional, mental and physical. After-work and after-school activity schedules can collide making a regular family meal feel out of reach, but it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Even just a couple of times per week, setting the intention and eating together can allow your family to combine fun, food and conversation.
Warming up a rotisserie chicken or enjoying pizza night will give you those family-time benefits. Check out some quick-and-easy family recipe ideas in our blog post about beating the dinner rush.
Better Screen Time Balance
Cutting back on screen time is a worthy goal, and it’s not only for kids. Many of us feel too tethered to our phones and other devices. Make a resolution to gradually cut back or eliminate screens from certain activities. Perhaps during those family dinners everyone’s devices can be charging, and at bedtime, the screens go to bed, too. Charge them in a common room like the kitchen or living room rather than bedrooms.
Be more present when enjoying screens together as a family and eliminate the double-screen zone out. When you sit down for a movie or show together, put the smaller screens away. Phones and tablets can take a break while you bond as a family over a movie or TV show.
Tidy Up
After the holiday gifts have all been unwrapped, you and your family may be faced with more stuff than can be managed. Tackling the toys could be a worthy family resolution. Aim for regular tidy-ups every week or month.
Getting the kids involved in sorting through and weeding out toys to pass along to other children can make the letting-go experience a little easier. Put on some fun tunes and make it a game, and the process can extend the holiday spirit of giving throughout the New Year.
Connect with Our Team
Being healthy requires a team, and our children’s health providers play an important role in keeping children healthy and well. Whether you have tiny children or are literally seeing eye-to-eye with teenagers, be sure to plan your wellness visits for this year. Download our What to Expect at Well Checks timeline to have a handy reference of vaccines your little ones will need from birth through 18.
Do the same for yourself, parents, and take care of your own health. Check out our guide for making a healthy game plan for the new year.
Whatever resolutions or intentions your family sets, we wish you the best and brightest new year.
