It’s that time of year again. The time when everyone starts falling off their resolution bandwagon and becomes grouchy and depressed. In addition, here in the Midwest anyway, we’re past the excitement of the holidays and while it feels like spring should be nearly here we’re still multiple cold, damp, grey months away from warmer weather.
Plus it’s flu season. Happy 2018!!!
In some rare down time this weekend I was struck by the sudden urge to do something “fun” that had been tempting me for a while: turn my mismatched, mishmash (it’s totally a word…) closet full of random clothes into a capsule wardrobe!
I had visions of delightful ensembles, perfectly matched and hanging in rows. Beautiful, comfortable as sin blouses paired chicly (also a word, I hope…) with a healthy mix of leggings and “real” pants that would fit me like I remembered from my pre-baby-and-that-extra-twenty-pounds days.
Then I started actually going through my closet.
Now, I have clothes that I love don’t get me wrong, but nothing in my closet was going to give me what I was looking for, clothes just can’t do that. And as I sat, proud of myself for getting rid of so many clothes that had seen their heydey come and go (I’m talking about you, denim cutoffs from High School) but disappointed that my “capsule wardrobe” wasn’t shaping up at all like the tutorials I had seen on YouTube, I realized something: what a silly point in my life to be putting together a capsule wardrobe! I doubt I could pick a sillier, more unlikely to achieve resolution if I tried! I am in the middle of my child bearing years (God willing!) and it is severely unlikely that many (if any!) of these clothes will fit me when I am finally done having a baby every year… And if they DO, I think I will deserve something new at that point anyway. Why hang on to this old clothing hoping it will fit me someday?
See? Silly.
The whole thing started me thinking, what other resolutions had I made or considered making that were silly for this season of my life? Because to be honest I’m going through the toughest part of my life thus far and I need some successes, some things to write down in my “wins” column to bolster me through the nights of no sleep and the daily toddler tantrums. Why not pick out resolutions that, while maybe not being what I want the most, are most achievable? Why not set myself up for some of those wins?!
In the same vein, I have come up with 5 Resolutions that I am NOT making this year. As Momma to an infant and a toddler these are particularly near and dear to my heart, but with some adaptations they could probably be sage advice for anyone.
1) Curate a capsule wardrobe.
Look, as a busy mother of two I have no time to even look up what the word “curate” means, much less do whatever-that-is to my clothes. Plus, my clothes are always covered in spit, snot, or food so it hardly matters what I’m wearing.
I’m all for dressing for success, I tend to feel better and more productive when I “get dressed” for the day, and I DO have a closet full of outfits that serve me well both at home and when the kids and I are out on the town, my “mom uniform” if you will, but it’s mostly completely comprised of pieces that I have had forever, and that’s not changing.
I’m no dummy and I refuse to go out and spend a bunch of money or invest a bunch of time and effort into my clothes in this season of my life. There will come a time when I can do that, but right now I am just worried about keeping the coffee maker clean so I can get my morning (and afternoon and evening) cuppa, everything else can just wait.
2) Get my body “back”.
I know there are a lot of ladies who have strong negative feelings towards this phrase, and I can’t say I blame them. While I will admit to someday wanting to be more fit and toned, right now I am so so busy pouring myself out into my family that there’s really not a lot of time to tone the vessel, if you know what I mean.
I do make an effort, but I have abandoned worrying about flattening my tummy and bouncing a quarter off… anything. The guilt over my husband’s semi-rock hard body (he made me add the “semi”) next to my significantly fluffier one is done. Yes, he works out almost daily at the gym but I care for our children and household in order for him to do that. I cook him nutritious meals so that he doesn’t have to eat fast food to go for lunch every day. I spend my days cleaning and disinfecting in the hopes that no one gets sick, and then take care of them when they do anyway. I spend my nights bouncing between my own bed, the recliner in the nursery, and the fridge to fill just-one-more cup of milk for my toddler.
If doing all those things means that I am going to be too tired to get in a “real” workout the next day? Then I am ok with that. I extend myself the grace I need (and let myself eat that cookie anyway) and try again tomorrow.
3) Make everything all-organic, from scratch, all the time.
Nope.
I am all for homemade from scratch, I love to cook and feed my family healthfully, my crockpot is running nearly 24/7, and my freezer is bursting with homemade sauces, breads, and freezer meals.
My toddler still eats goldfish on the daily because priorities, that’s why.
She likes them. They are easy (SO EASY- and I like THAT!). End of story.
4) Take more photos.
This one depends on you personally, but I take waaaay too many photos. Like, 538,923 since a week ago Tuesday. After I upgraded to a new iPhone last year my addiction became serious…. Helloooo best camera I have owned in my entire life. My photos are plastered all over the walls in my house, made into magnets, printed on reusable grocery bags, playing cards, and fill more albums and scrapbooks than I can count.
This year I need to be more mindful in my picture taking. I need to practice taking a photo or two and then worrying about soaking up the experience behind the photo, because that’s always the best part anyway.
5) Spend more time with extended family.
Again, this depends on your situation but both my husband’s and my extended family live several hours away. This makes any visit necesitate an overnight stay, which sounds rad and a little like a mini-vacation until you factor in our infant and toddler…. Neither of whom sleep well at all unless they are in their own house, in their own room, in their own bed. End. Of. Story. (They don’t always sleep great in those places either, that’s just where the odds are the best!)
This year I am not going to be guilted into dragging my non-sleeping children all over kingdom come to celebrate every birthday, anniversary, and holiday in seven places at once. Nu-uh.
If you want to venture down to our neck of the woods we have a spare room for you and will welcome you with open arms! My parents live a mile away and have an entire child free house (I hear it’s so, SO quiet at night…) and they LOVE guests. There is always plenty of food, wine, and coffee here for anyone willing to make the trip, but if you aren’t then no hard feelings and we’ll see you in a couple years. I’ll spend these little years hunkering down with my growing brood and spending time with just us, thankyouverymuch.
So there you have it, the 5 resolutions I will NOT be making this year. TBH I didn’t make any resolutions, at least any that I can remember right now, but rest assured I’m constantly striving to be better. As a mom, as a wife, as a person in general, just like we all are.
How about you? Do you make resolutions? What resolutions are you or are you NOT making this year?
