I’m kind of a New Year’s Eve Scrooge. I’ve never cared much for ringing in the new year with anything other than what I usually do. I don’t like to get dressed up and I don’t like black eyed peas. And I especially don’t like the idea of my kids being conscious at midnight. No, indeed. We often allow our kids to count down to midnight somewhere . . .which means 9:00 (maybe 10:00 if we’re feeling charitable), our time. And then it’s lights out.
What I do like to do to commemorate the beginning of a new year is a scaled-down version (it’s gotta be scaled down if it happens at my house) of a New Year’s Time Capsule. Every year, each of us sits down with a list of questions. The questions include things like:
- Your favorite color/song/movie/book/singer/class at school/person to hang out with at school.
- Where you would like to live someday?
- What is your weight/height?
- Do you have any missing teeth?
- What is your favorite thing to wear?
- List three things you are good at.
- Name something you did in 2010 about which you are really proud.
- What is your favorite youtube video of 2010?
- What is one thing you would like to have accomplished by the end of 2010?
- Draw a picture of yourself.
- How would you describe 2010 in one word? One sentence?
The kids spend a good long while poring over their questionnaire and then we seal them up in an envelope. Then the fun begins. We get out the ones from previous years and read a sampling of their responses. The kids LOVE this part. They love to look at how their handwriting and drawings have changed and see how much they have grown. They laugh or scoff at whatever their prior favorite outfits, singers or books were. (This year, our oldest is bound to wonder how she could possibly have liked Justin Beiber last year while the youngest might well write him down as his current favorite.) It’s great to see how much we can change in just one short year.
We always hear some surprising things-like the time Kennedy said if she could live anywhere in the world, she would live in Nebraska. Nebraska? Out of all the places in the whole wide world? O-key dokey. We hear some things we think we can help the kids with, like last year when Stuart said his goals were to learn how to swim (check) and learn how to ride a bike (urr . . . almost-check). Other things are less attainable, like Stuart’s goal to learn how to speak Spanish. Oh, sure, he can learn to speak Spanish-some day.
I am simultaneously annoyed and embarrassed to see that I set some of the same goals every year. Hello, Heather-accomplish a goal, already! Every year, I say I’m going to be more patient (total fail every year). I say I’m going to go to bed earlier (oops-does midnight instead of 12:30 a.m. count?). I say I’m going to cook healthy meals (does switching from Hot Pockets to Lean Pockets count?). Every year, I say I’m going to lose weight. (Wink, wink-this year I’ll actually be able to say that I did that one.)
I’ve almost kept myself from writing down some of those tired goals. It feels crummy to fail every year. But they are things I genuinely want to do, so I continue to write them down-thinking that this year might be the year I actually do it.
So what about you? Do you make New Year’s Resolutions? Do you recycle some of the same goals over and over like me, or do you actually keep yours? Do you have any fun family traditions to ring in the new year?
Love your family New Year tradition. Much more creative and insightful than the traditional list of resolutions.
And be nice to yourself. Keep your list of goals for 10 years before looking at it. You’re much more likely to see long-term progress–or to decide unaccomplished goals were neither realistic nor all that important.
Stuart already asked me a couple days ago when we would be able to do this again, so he’s looking forward to it! And we’re in Nebraska right now! I’ll have to ask Kennedy if it’s still the one place in the world she’d want to live.
Just so you know, I am totally stealing this idea.
Yay! But you won’t get to the best part until next year. Let me know if your kids like it. I’ve thought of expanding it–allowing them to decorate something capsule-like, putting some little treasures from the old year in it, etc., but have never gotten around to it and then decided that sticking with pencil & paper was the easiest way to keep it going,
I LOVE your idea for the time capsule! I’m going to start with my kids this year. How fun! With them being so little, it will be fun to watch their responses change over the years. I’ll make a file, label it, and we can put our sealed letters in there for the year. Gonna do it! Thanks for the idea!
As for goals, I DO recycle every year. I’m trying to get better and set attainable, very specific goals that I write down and put somewhere I can see them. Usually I just end up writing my goals down in my journal, though, and then I shut the book, don’t see them, and don’t do them….
I think I might snag this as well. My girls are just old enough now for this to be interesting when we look back.
I make the same goals every year too, but as I look back over longer periods of time, I see that even if I haven’t really made it to the point that I envision, I have made progress. Maybe a year is just too short for true change in some areas.
This is a great idea! We may be doing the same thing at our house, Heather. :-)
I love your tradition — I’m going to steal it!! We do a similar thing at Christmas…. my parents and sibs/spouses all write “Christmas Essays” (on any topic – not just Christmas). We have 7 years now and its really fun to read over past years.
I do set New Years goals…but I haven’t written them down in years, so I don’t know if I’m recycling or not!!! haha. Lately my goals have been around running — several years on distances (finish 10k, finish half marathon, finish marathon, etc). This year it is around consistency…. I want to log 1,000 miles in the year. I also want to be more positive (I can be sarcastic and contrary). Not sure how to measure that one, though!
Lyn, if you figure out a way to measure sarcasm, let me know . . . ;)
“What is one thing you would like to have accomplished by the end of 2010?”
Don’t you mean 2011 on this question?
Yeah. I cut & pasted those questions from the Word document I used last year. I have to change it every year and since we haven’t done it yet this year, I haven’t changed the document yet.
I really like this idea, Heather, and like others, I think I might borrow it, even if I have to do it a day late.
Ha! I totally have this same issue! I think my wife and kids want to set this goal for me even if I’m too lazy to do it.
LOL! Yes, definitely.
@Ziff, we’ll be doing it several days late as we are stuck in a serious blizzard in Nebraska and are nowhere near home . . .
Good luck, Heather! I hope the blizzard lets up soon.
Heather, don’t they have pencils and paper in Nebraska? Seriously– were you just driving through, or visiting there? I take it you’re generally ok, at least in a place with internet. :)
Very funny, Paula. Yes, they have paper and all other types of new-fangled modern technological advances in rural.western Nebraska. So we could’ve done THIS year’s questions, but we didn’t have access to LAST year’s–and that’s the best part!
We drove to Nebraska (after our Colorado reunion with my family) to see Brent’s brother and his family. And between the stomach virus and two days of blizzards the likes of which I have NEVER seen, we ended up spending the rest of the week there rather than just 2 days. We’re halfway home now . . .