Last year I resolved to use up all of the free samples in my medicine cabinet because I thought it would be an attainable goal and it would make me look younger. Well, my medicine cabinet is as cluttered as ever and I look like I’ve aged 5 years instead of 1 since January, so let’s just write that off as a totally predictable failure.
By February, Huzzybee and I decided to start making monthly resolutions, reasoning that we were too tired to remember what our yearly resolution was, much less stick to it. We each chose a resolution for the short month of February, wrote them out on a piece of paper, and taped it to the fridge: Huzzybee resolved to turn off computer/laptop screens by 9:30 p.m. every night. I resolved to stop snacking after dinner – a habit that I picked up from pregnancy that I’ve never been able to kick. Jointly, we promised to be nicer to each other. As it turns out, knowing that you only have to do something for a month is a lot less annoying, but it’s just enough time to form a habit. February was a success: we stuck to our promises, and had no trouble continuing to stick to it later in the year. We made new resolutions in March: Huzzybee did pushups in the morning, and I decided to wear something other than yoga pants every day. After a month, Huzzybee was completely uninterested in doing more pushups, and I decided that I wasn’t emotionally prepared to give up yoga pants for the rest of the year. In April I resolved to go running 3 times a week with the warming weather – and so it continued. Some of those resolutions I have kept (the running), and some I dropped (giving up sugar entirely, which is completely insane).
Starting January 1, I am resolving to be in bed with the lights out by 9:45 because I can’t drag myself out of bed in the mornings, no matter how well I sleep. If by February 1 I find that this earlier bed time has no effect on my ability to get out of bed in the morning, then I’ll drop it and try something else for a month – and I won’t beat myself up about it.
What monthly resolutions will you make this year?
The Reluctant Matron 