The start of a new year is a wonderful time to set new goals for the future! It can also be a good time to reflect on the previous year; this holiday season, sit down with your family on what went well this past year and what you all want to work on for the future. Be sure to discuss your child’s accomplishments and successes to help build confidence!
When looking forward to the future, setting goals and resolutions can be overwhelming and intimidating. Focus on just setting 1 or 2 goals that you and your child can focus on for the year. Try to keep these goals fun for the kids, to help motivate them to keep going. For example, if your goal is to exercise more, help them find an activity or sport they truly enjoy, and let them pick out a fun activity or movie at the end of the week when they hit their goals. Try to make the resolutions specific whenever possible; rather than just saying “eat more vegetables” brainstorm realistic ways to work vegetables into the diet. For example, maybe have fruit and vegetable smoothies. Also set a time or frequency based goal; for instance, say “I will eat a vegetable every week night with dinner”. Other health related resolutions to keep in mind might be related to sleeping habits, drinking water, practicing mindfulness, or decreasing screen time. Check out this list on the AAP’s Healthy Children website for age appropriate New Years resolutions to help spark some ideas. If you are a parent looking for your own resolutions to set, here is a separate list by the AAP to give you some ideas about goals to set!
We hope you have a very Happy New Year!