Six New Year’s Resolutions for Becoming a Better Person
Posted by Laurie
Most people think about the New Year as a good time to lose weight, exercise more often or stop smoking. But when one is pregnant, the New Year means something entirely different. We stop dwelling on our appearance and start thinking about who we are, our purpose in life and what values and lessons we can share with our baby-to-be.
Taken from my journal during the time that I was expecting, here are my six New Year’s resolutions for becoming a better person, a better parent and a better partner:
1) Give Grandparent Goodness.
Pay more attention to the soon-to-be grandparents. Cherish them for all that they give to us and for all the ways they care about us. Call them more often. Recognize that we are going to need them much more than we had ever imagined.
2) Be Happily Married.
Fight less with my spouse. Once a baby enters the family, there is so much more to bicker about, so put on my mediator’s hat now and learn to fight less and compromise more before a little one is around to listen to our arguments. (For tips on how to stop bickering with your spouse read my article on Web MD.)
3) Put Away the Piles.
Take care of the little things. I have these piles of mail, bills and folders by the computer. If I don’t clean them up now they will probably be there until we move, some time in the next decade. Don’t put off today what probably won’t be done tomorrow: from researching and buying a new camera to capture the best shots of my baby, to finding the closest children’s pharmacy to my apartment, no matter how little free time I think I have, I will have even less soon enough.
4) Become a Reader.
Reading books is a great way to relax in bed or in the bathtub and it gets my mind off those days and weeks of pregnancy ahead of me. I will ask my friends for book suggestions. (My current book recommendation for you: The Help by Kathryn Stockett. It’s an uplifting debut novel with a twist about raising babies.)
5) Rekindle Old Friendships.
With a baby on the way, I have a nice excuse to reach out to that friend from high school who I haven’t seen in years. Her Facebook pictures show that she’s a mom. It’s amazing how friendships can be rekindled through the mom connection.
6) Give Myself a Break.
Realize that accepting less than perfect will make me a better person and a better companion. Adding the new title of parent to my list of responsibilities this year is going to mean less time for everything else. Aim for 80% of perfect and I’ll probably reach my goal, and that’s cause for celebration.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 at 12:06 pm and is filed under Health & Wellness, Life-Style. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response.
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