Mommy Monday: mommy goals 2016

Can you believe 2015 is ending this week? I certainly can't. I'm pretty sure my daughters' first day of preschool in September was, like, a week ago. And it definitely hasn't been a month since we moved into our new house.

I know some people grow cynical of making resolutions at the beginning of each calendar year, but I actually enjoy the opportunity to reflect and set concrete, specific, and (hopefully) realistic goals to focus on each year (you can read more about my goal-setting process in this post from last year, or get your own copy of the goal-setting worksheets I use here). Today I want to share my home/parenting goals for 2016. I'd love to hear yours in the comments, and if you haven't made any yet, I hope mine will give you some inspiration!

1. Be patient with mistakes
I've been aware of this since the beginning, but because I am a "type-A" personality and people-pleaser myself, it's tend to respond to my children's mistakes the same way I would to my own: gasping over spilled milk, getting frustrated when I'm in a hurry and someone is having trouble getting their shoes on, or when they aren't able to do something that I didn't anticipate being difficult for them. I am aware of this and I try hard to work against that tendency, but I want to continue to make it my goal as I can definitely still improve.

2. Be as phone-free as possible between dinner and bedtime
I'm definitely a morning person, so by the time dinner rolls around I am usually exhausted. We usually have about 45 minutes between dinner and getting ready for bed, when the girls and I can play together. It's easy for me to get sucked into scrolling through my newsfeed, watching videos on YouTube, or checking my email instead of being with my daughters. You know what happens when I do that? The girls start fighting with each other. I'm not saying that I necessarily want to always be totally engaged with them every time- I'm an introvert, and I have some pretty hectic days, and I think it is totally legitimate for me to want to sit and relax sometimes. But I want to make it a goal not to turn on my phone and become almost oblivious to what is going on around me, but instead draw, rest, or just sit if I need some time to myself. That way I can still notice when any problems are brewing and redirect the girls before they get into a huge fight. And the rest of the time, of course, I want to be playing with them!

I think I'm going to stick to those for this year- I have a couple of teacher goals (which I will share tomorrow) and I don't want to have too many things to think about! What are your goals as a parent for the upcoming new year? I'd love to hear them!