The New Year’s Resolutions I’m Making As A Mom Of 3
Because this is the year I’m focusing on what matters the most to me. (And it ain’t weight loss.)
I love New Year’s resolutions. I love the celebratory feeling of starting a new year, and I love the kiss goodbye (or curse, I don’t judge) we give to a year just finished. While I still maintain that, as a mom, my “real” New Year begins with the back-to-school season, there’s something about making resolutions in January that just feels right. And this year, as a mom of three, I’ve got some super specific resolutions in mind to help make 2025 the best year for me and my family.
2024 was a big year of reflection for me. I feel like I got really self-aware this past year, and I’m not sure why. Maybe because it was the first year in 10 years that I wasn’t actively planning our family? I wasn’t pregnant or breastfeeding or imagining what it would be like to have more kids. I was able to sink into our family dynamic of five, and I felt like I got to fully invest in myself, my husband, and our three girls in a way I hadn’t before. But that means I also was able to see my flaws and find things that were genuinely irking me — like getting stressed every day around 5 p.m. because I didn’t know what was for dinner or feeling overwhelmed and icky after too much time scrolling on my phone.
So, I’m making 2025 the year of feeling good. For me, obviously, but also for my family. There are so many ways I want to show up for them, but I can’t do that if I don’t show up for myself, you know? I don’t want to just think I’m doing a good job caring for myself; I want to know I am. I want to focus on what’s important to me — quality time with my family, my mental health, a happy household — and turn that into a list of resolutions.
Some of these feel broad, but I know my intentions behind all of them. And nowhere in here is something like “lose 50 pounds” or “stop eating out so much” because I want to give myself room to live without feeling boxed into whatever resolution I’ve created. But cutting my screen time in half? Making sure I literally touch grass each day? Knowing what’s for dinner, even if it’s just grilled cheese? That all matters to me deep down in my core — and that means I can do them.
Go outside every day.
Not for a run, not to get the mail, and we are absolutely not counting the 17 seconds it takes me to walk from my front door to my minivan 80 times a day as I chauffeur children all over the place. I am going outside. I am going on a walk with a thermos of coffee; I am sitting on my front porch steps and closing my eyes; I am walking around in my backyard and reminding myself how lucky I am.
It’s a popular bit of parenting advice: When your kid needs a reset, take them outside. And y’all, sometimes I’m the one who needs a reset more than anybody. So, I’m taking myself outside.
Stop documenting with social media in mind.
I’ve always been a bit of a romanticizer. In the middle of a moment, I will stop to take it all in, promising myself I’ll remember it later. Having a camera in my pocket at all times has been such a joy for that side of my personality, but I’ve noticed over the last few years I’ve been documenting more with social media in mind than myself.
I love Instagram and using it as my own little diary, but it occurred to me that sometimes I’m framing out a perfect shot or photo not for myself but so I can share it on social media. And I don’t want that pressure anymore. I want to document my girls and our life together because I want to — whether it looks “good for the grid” or not. I want to print my photos this year and journal instead of sharing thoughts on Instagram and keep these documented moments for our family to look back on. One day, social media might be gone, and then what?
Meal plan.
And I don’t mean like spending all day Sunday chopping food and putting it in freezer bags with labels — I mean just knowing what we’re going to eat each day. Few things stress me out more than my kids asking me as I pick them up from school what’s for dinner when I have zero clue. Doing a quick look through the pantry and fridge each morning, even if the only meal I can come up with is cereal and peanut butter toast, will alleviate so much stress and overwhelm I feel.
Cut my screen time in half.
If you haven’t taken a look at your screen time stats in a while, maybe brace yourself. Even when I think I’m being so good about not being on my phone, those mindless 30-minute scrolls with my coffee in the morning or while I’m waiting at an appointment add up. When I realized some days I’m logging in six to eight hours on my phone with nothing to show for it? Gross. No wonder I feel so overwhelmed and stressed.
Keep this mantra: This is supposed to be fun.
I am the Clark Griswold of my family. I come up with elaborate plans and get hyper-focused on making things the BEST and the MOST FUN and creating CORE MEMORIES, and then I feel like it was all a waste at the end when someone was arguing about their snack or someone cried or someone said, “I’m bored,” in the middle of an epic movie night. But I’m promising myself this year to keep this mantra in mind: This is supposed to be fun. Why am I getting so stressed? Why am I ruining the moment of an outdoor picnic by insisting we have sliced cucumbers when nobody’s going to eat them? Why am I feeling irritated if my kids want to play video games with me instead of working on a puzzle?
This is supposed to be fun.
Stick with my own bedtime routine.
There are few things I love more than a bedtime routine. Even doing my girls’ with them — baths, hair brushing, snuggling for bedtime stories, and lights out — grounds me, and I know how good a bedtime routine is for me, too. It’s easy to get off track, whether it’s because I go downstairs to binge a show with my husband or decide to deep clean the kitchen instead, but I really want to make that a priority this year so that I can feel as safe and relaxed as my kids do.
Keep my minivan clean.
Do you know how annoying it is to have a minivan with the third-row seats down flat and still feel like you don’t have any room for groceries? I need to keep this minivan on a cleaning schedule this year. While I do love having things like extra diapers and wipes or a stack of clean clothes and snacks in the backseat, all the extra toys and nonsense that accumulate in our car needs to go. It would make all of us breathe a little easier, I think.
Use my hobbies as mood boosters.
I’m a creative person, and I know that the minute I feel myself slipping into a funk — even if it’s just a random “ugh, I don’t feel like moving today” funk — being creative by writing or baking or sewing instantly lifts my mood. Like immediately, it’s the wildest thing. So, instead of telling myself I’m too busy to enjoy my hobbies, I’m making them part of my own daily self-care. Whether that means 20 minutes to write in the middle of the day or pulling out a sewing project to work on after bedtime, I deserve to have that mood boost.
2025 is the Year of Mom — and making her the best, happiest version of herself guarantees everyone gets the best of me.
