The New Year. A time for new habits, new routines, resolutions, and more. Most people start off January with a bang. They commit to change their workout routine, their diet, their relationships, and whatever else is bothering them. However, those habits are often quickly forgotten, and they return to their regular routines. If you want to be different, try to make fewer changes or smaller changes. Small steps add up over time, and you get more accomplished.
While 3 Easy Habits might not seem like a big deal, imagine if you could keep all three of them going year-round. How much impact could you have on your family?
Start with meal planning
If you’re tired of getting home and trying to figure out what’s for dinner night after night, start by planning your meals ahead of time. On the weekend sit down and look at your family schedule for the week and decide which nights you’re going to eat at home and which nights (if any) you’ll eat out. Determine what you’ll make for dinner each night you need to cook and whether or not there will be leftovers available for another meal, so you know how many days you need to cook. Create your shopping list and either go to the store or place an online grocery order.
This one easy change can help eliminate dinner time stress. Now, there’s no guarantee your kiddo will eat what you prep because of well #kids. Keep some easy, quick, healthy items on hand that you know your kids will eat. Add those to the dinner plan each night. Will the kiddos eat apples? Great, grab a bag of apple slices at the store. Do they like rolls? Serve rolls with dinner. As long as you’ve got something healthy that the kids will eat, you’re set.
Create a family night, and a special routine everyone can look forward to each week
Choose a weeknight or weekend night and make it a family night. Order pizza or make homemade pizza or burgers or whatever sounds fun and easy for you. Watch a movie together or play games as a family. Spend time together. Try not to plan other activities that night and allow it to be a night for the family to spend together. You’ll find a chance to relax and reconnect both. In time everyone will look forward to family pizza night or family game night or whatever it is you choose.
Get outside together
Take a walk around your neighborhood, go to the park, play ball, whatever sounds fun to your family. Get outside together. You’ll automatically turn off the screens and re-engage with your kiddos by doing this. Pick a weekend morning and pack a picnic lunch and go off to the park together. Maybe even explore a park you haven’t visited before. It doesn’t have to be a big production. Most young kids love going to the park, riding bikes, or just playing outside with friends and family.
Start small. Make a plan for your meals this week. Buy some extra foods that your kiddos love that are easy to incorporate with your meal plan. Take away some of the dinner time stress. Create a family night at home and go to the park sometime soon. These are all things you can do that don’t cost much (some are free) and don’t take a lot of time or effort on your part. Commit to making 2020 a healthier new year for your family in these three small ways and see how much things can change.
