Here’s How To Help Your Family Succeed In The New Year and Beyond
If setting New Year’s resolutions isn’t your thing, focus on some alternative ideas to help your family succeed in the new year and beyond.
CanCan Mom’s hundreds of creative Get-to-Do Lists, routines, schedules, and solutions all make motherhood easier and more fun! Recognizing that you “Get To Do” these things because you are blessed to have a family simply reminds you to Interact with love and laughter more often than impatience.
Have fun incorporating my unique Fast & Free Quick Steps into your daily life!
Moms Crushing It with CanCan Quick Steps to Help Your Family Succeed in the New Year
A new year is not only cause for celebration, but it’s also the perfect time to get excited about making your family’s life easier and more successful.
I love the feeling of getting a fresh start at the beginning of the year. When it’s time to buy a new calendar, it’s also the perfect opportunity to reflect on the past twelve months and plan new ways to improve my family’s life … and my own! Here are six of my favorites:
- Create a New Everyday Tradition
- Take the Joyful Jar Challenge
- Seek Out Adventures
- Begin Meal Planning to Save Money
- Establish a Daily Routine
- Share Your Smile—It’s Free and Easy!
Help Your Family Succeed and Have More Fun, Inspiration, and Money This Year!
Tip 1: Create a New Everyday Tradition
The holiday season is when most families celebrate traditions. Now, create ways to celebrate family time’s ordinary, everyday moments.
You might choose to begin a Sunday brunch tradition for the first Sunday of the month. Or, you can grab your new calendar and schedule a few electronic-free evenings several times a year where you order pizza and play board games together.
Your new tradition can be as simple or elaborate as possible. To succeed, all you need to do is be consistent.
Traditions, no matter the time of year, become special rituals your family will cherish and perhaps pass on to their kids someday.
See Also: How to Create Meaningful Traditions for Your Family
Tip 2: Take the Joyful Jar Challenge
Several years ago, I was introduced to a wonderful new way to focus on the good things happening in my family’s life—the joyful jar challenge. Similar to a gratitude journal, the big difference is that the entire family participates.
You can start this challenge any time of the year.
I leave an empty jar labeled “Joyful Jar” on the kitchen counter with some colorful pads of paper and pens. When something good happens, any family member can write it down and put it in the empty jar. Soon, the jar starts to fill up with a collection of heartwarming, funny, and sometimes goofy memories from each of us.
You can enjoy reading these special memories together as a family on New Year’s Eve, remembering all of the good times of the past year as you welcome a new one—another family tradition!
Tip 3: Seek Out Adventures
One way to help your family succeed is to avoid stagnation. We can forget to get creative with our free time and seek out adventures, which equals boredom!
Have a brainstorming party and serve your family’s favorite treats.
Look for free programs at the library, local businesses, and organizations, as well as Bucket List items like whale watching, snorkeling, and horseback riding.
Expand on favorite activities like hiking a mountain instead of a trail, camping on a regular weekend instead of just on vacation, or cooking international recipes to expand your palate.
Find out what’s available in your community and appealing to your family, then sign up!
Tip 4: Begin Meal Planning to Save Money
Parents hang out the most in two places: in their car, shuttling kids back and forth to appointments and activities, and in the kitchen, preparing, serving, and cleaning up snacks and meals.
Until your child has a driver’s license of her own, you’ll likely have job security as her chauffeur. But if you try meal planning, you can drastically reduce the time you spend in the kitchen and save money as well.
The best part about meal planning is that my family never hounds me about what’s for dinner—I post a calendar of meals each month so it’s easily accessible. We have tried-and-true staple meals that I rely on when I’m short on time. I make double batches of some meals, so I always have a few choices in the freezer. But I’ve also become more creative because I have the time to try out new recipes.
Meal planning allows us to share more family meals. With the money I save being prepared in advance, we have one take-out meal each week, which guarantees me a night off!
See Also: 4 Great Reasons Meal Planning Is a Must for a Happier Family Life
Tip 5: Help Your Family Succeed By Establishing a Daily Routine
Establishing solid daily routines is one of the best gifts you can give your family.
You don’t have to go crazy and build in a dozen routines at once. Start with one area your family has the most difficulty with—like the crazy morning rush or perhaps your kids stretch out their bedtimes—and pick one or two ways you can improve on that situation. Maybe your weekends are a free-for-all, and you’d like to create more structure for your family when school’s not in session.
Find a few quiet moments where you can analyze the flow of your family’s schedule—or the lack thereof—and incorporate a new routine to help you have your best year possible.
See Also: 6 Simple Tips to Create Effective Daily Family Routines
Tip 6: Share Your Smile
I saved my favorite tip for last—smiling! Give your smile an extra-big workout this year. Sharing our smile is one of our best gifts to our friends and family. It’s free, easy, and can bring unexpected joy to someone who is struggling or having a bad day.
If you’d like to send some friendly encouragement to your loved one’s inbox every day, check out smiletherapy.com. This fun and inspirational service delivers positive daily messages to start your day on a cheerful note. There’s a free trial for 30 days, and then you can subscribe for $5 per month. I gift a subscription to my college kids, and they look forward to their daily dose of inspiration, especially when they’re homesick or tackling exams.
What fun family activities are on your Get To Do List? For all kinds of mom-centered creative ideas, visit me on Instagram at CanCanMomCB or on Pinterest at theCanCanMom. If you have questions or suggestions, email me at cheryl@cancanmom.com or leave a comment in the box below.
