WHAT ARE WE TEACHING KIDS ABOUT RESOLUTIONS?

Have your kids heard you (or others) talking about New Year’s Resolutions?

Have they asked you about it and what it means?

Should kids be encouraged to set New Year’s Resolutions?

These questions were the topic of a discussion this week.

What’s your opinion?

Here’s mine.

If you read my post Start, Stop, Continue! you know that I am not a huge fan of ‘resolutions’ but I am very much in favor of regular personal evaluation and setting ‘goals’. What does setting a resolution on the first and breaking it by the 15^th teach kids?

In comparison, walking a child through the process of setting and working towards a goal helps them develop thinking and reasoning skills and allows them to make choices and decisions and feel success in their efforts.

The process of evaluating their life, deciding where they want to improve, setting a goal, documenting their own progress and working towards that goal can be adapted to children as young as preschoolers. The beginning of the year is a perfect opportunity to teach kids about goals and resolving to be a better person.

So what kinds of goals can improve the lives of kids while teaching them a lesson or two along the way? Here are a few ideas.

PRESCHOOLERS

• I will clean up my toys and put them where they belong.
• I will brush my teeth twice a day.
• I will wash my hands after going to the bathroom and before eating.
• I will be kind and loving towards pets and all animals. I will keep my fingers and face away from their mouths so I don't get bitten.

KIDS, AGES 5-12

• I will drink water three times each day and limit soda to special occasions.
• I will find a sport or activity that I like and do it at least three times a week.
• I will always wear a helmet when riding my bike.
• I will wear my seat belt every time I get in a car.
• I will apply sunscreen before I go outside on sunny days, and wear a hat and sunglasses when I won't be in the shade.
• I will be nice to other kids and friendly to kids who need friends - like someone who is shy or new to my school.
• I will never give out personal information (including name, address, school name, or phone number) on the Internet.
• I will never send a picture of myself to someone I chat with on the computer without my parents permission.

KIDS, AGES 13 AND OLDER

• I will eat at least one fruit and one vegetable every day.
• I will limit the soda I drink to special occasions.
• I will take care of my body through physical activity and nutrition.
• I will choose nonviolent TV shows and video games and I will spend no more than two hours a day on these activities.
• I will help others by volunteering in my community - either working with community groups or joining a group that helps the less fortunate.
•  I will talk about my choices with an adult whom I can trust when faced with a difficult situation.
• I will take a break when I feel angry or stressed out and find constructive ways to deal with the stress, such as writing in a journal, exercising, reading or discussing my problem with a parent or friend.
• I will talk with a trusted adult and attempt to find a way that I can help friends if I notice they are struggling or engaging in risky behaviors.
• I will be careful about whom I choose to date and always treat the other person with respect and without coercion or violence. I will expect the same good behavior in return.
• I will resist peer pressure to try drugs or alcohol.
• I will not use a cell phone or text message while driving, and I will always wear a seat belt.

Have you talked with your kids about goals or resolutions? What other goals have your kids set? Do you have a differing opinion?

Some goals listed above courtesy of American Academy of Pediatrics.

START, STOP, CONTINUE!

Happy New Year!

Did you make New Year’s resolutions? Are they already broken?

If you don’t like resolutions, but you do want improvement in your life, keep reading!

Here we are, at the beginning of a new year.

What does that mean to you?

Are you excited about the beginning of a new year?

Or, are you just glad to be rid of 2011?

I love fresh starts. I love evaluating my life, revisiting my goals and looking at what I am going to Start, Stop and Continue.

I’m not crazy about the word ‘resolution’ in relation to changes I want to make at the beginning of the year. In my observation, when people resolve to do something, and then don’t follow through with perfection, they consider themselves a failure and drop it all together.

I AM a believer in setting goals however. I am also a believer in reviewing my goals a couple of times a year to see what’s working and what’s not. These reviews are where I make changes to goals that may be affected by circumstances around me. I also make adjustments and fine tune my goals now that I have a few months ‘experience’ working on them. Maybe I was a little too ambitious, or not ambitious enough when I set the goal. This method allows me to realize success in my goals and move forward instead of giving it up all together because it did not go as planned.

I ask myself THREE questions in my goal setting process:

What do I want to START that I haven’t been doing in my life?

What do I want to STOP that I have been doing?

What have I been doing well that I want to CONTINUE?

It’s easy for most people to think of a bunch of big goals: stop smoking, start exercising, lose weight, get finances under control, etc.  But don’t discount the small things; small changes have big effect.

START might be something as simple as “get up at 6am every day” or “drink a glass of water before eating anything every morning” or “read one verse of scripture every morning”. I’m sure you can see how each of those ‘small’ actions would lead to a happier, healthier, more productive you.

In my opinion, every day is a good time for a fresh start. The beginning of a new year, the beginning of a new month, the beginning of a new week, my birthday, my anniversary, the first day of school, the first day of a new job, well, you get the idea. But my FAVORITE day for a fresh start is, the day I think of a new goal that I want to incorporate into my life!!

It doesn’t always fall on the first of anything, but it always falls on the FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF MY LIFE!