New Year's Resolutions

Ringing in the New Year (complete with a countdown... at 6 pm)
with my extremely tolerant baby who somehow doesn't tear off silly headbands.
It will never be the year that Amelie arrived in my life again. Sniff.

*** Written in very early January... but it's no longer very early January, so I'm updating my post.

New year's resolutions always intimidate me, so I like to start working on them in December. Just to take the pressure off a little.

Here's what I've got so far. But my friend Emily suggested a "resolution of the month club" based on a great article she sent me on the idea, so I may have more.

1. Better dental hygiene. I've had a terrible habit of picking at my gums in one particular spot since I was five years old. With my fingernail. Gross, I know. I'm very very embarrassed by this habit so I decided to announce it to the world so I will stop. One hundred percent success so far!
   
   So part of my dental habit is keeping my fingernails super short. Total success here too!
   
   I'm also flossing every day (this was also my resolution in 2001 and it stuck for many years but fell by the wayside a while back) and doing "gum massage" (brushing my gums with my electric toothbrush turned off) and fluoride toothbrush every day. Doing great!
   
   And hopefully getting a night time mouth guard, because apparently I grind. And have worn away much of my dental enamel. Hence the mouthwash -- I am apparently susceptible to cavities. Luckily I haven't had any cavities in a long time but I want to keep it that way. Still waiting to hear back from the dentist. The authorization was approved but the receptionist said she needs to do another step before scheduling me. I should follow up.
2. Read to Amelie every day. This sounds so basic but it's surprisingly hard to fit it in with two kids and their early bedtimes combined with my working out in the afternoons when I get home from work. But I realized that this really is a priority for me -- I have to make it happen. Though I am taking my friend's suggestion and having my goal be to read five out of seven days a week. Some days I just can't make it happen.
   
   Luckily Amelie's language development doesn't seem to be suffering from my lackings so far. She actually seems advanced compared to Calliope at this age -- she's starting to sign, waves, shakes her head no, and I swear, says "Hi!" as she waves!
   
   But I still want to prioritize this. Doing better but not every day.
3. No reading at the table. No screens. No distractions. And eat every meal at the table. At least for dinner.
   
   This is really hard because I am always rushing. I hate to have meal time be unproductive. But I did this a few years ago and really did find it worthwhile. But it's harder now, with two kids and being so busy. Trying.
   
   Doing really well with this! It's not easy. I still forget and take bites while standing at the counter but all my meals (save one when I needed to research something over breakfast for school that day) have been screen free.
   
   An amazing side benefit that I totally didn't expect is that I get up and clean up after dinner since I'm not caught up in reading/ blogging/Facebook/watching a show... and then decide to get in bed and read when I'm done. And end up getting sleepy and turning out the light very early because I'm already in bed with my teeth brushed.
   
   The downside is I am blogging a lot less and I miss it... but clearly sleep is a good thing to prioritize.
4. Keep the hall table clear. I think I had this resolution last year. My brain is so much happier when the first thing I see when I get home is NOT a table piled high with mail.
   
   Only averaging about 75% success here but I'm okay with that. It's not as important to me as the others.

Does anyone else want to do a Resolution of the Month Club? Post a resolution each month and post status updates as desired.

Calliope and best friend Eleanor, ringing in the New Year in style

Our New Year's Eve party! Eleanor, Leo, and their mother even slept over. Kind of a sh*t show -- all the kids were sick and
up at various times coughing, but the girls were thrilled and so was Eleanor's father, who was out very late at a Phish show.
Our other friends went home (downstairs) for their own little slumber party by 7:30. And Salt Lick, the photographer, went
to another party and then ran a 5k race at midnight in Central Park. She leads a much more interesting life than I do, one that
involves sleeping late.