Renewing Yourself in The New Year

It is the new year so thousands start the year with goals they would like to accomplish or work on for the new year. Of course we can look at items in stores and know a lot of these are about weight loss by the items within stores we shop at and how everyone we know and follow show new walking scores, new testaments on how to do this or that, and the endless magazine cover pages about becoming a new you.
So as a mother, what does that mean to be a new you? For me it means continuing on the path that I started in 2013 to put myself first in my life. GASP! My kids are not first? What about my partner fiance? (oh yeah I got engaged over the holiday but we will save that for another post)

Early in my college career, I can call it a career because it took far too long and I have attended more colleges than most in my life, I learned that the best parents are one who value their relationship first. I have learned that the non-stop parenting model I employed for years took all my energy away and made me cranky and less than enjoyable to be around. I learned that you should have a partner in life who may not be just like you, but at the core of their values in life, believes in what you believe in. So, I started saying no to things. I stopped going to every meeting that I could go to even if it was okay for kids to be there and they had a room for them to play in. I began to dance around the house, I began to stay in bed past 5:30 AM, I began to cook more and more, and I actually started to date my boyfriend.

To some the last part may be hilarious since we already lived together and have a child, plus my previous two, however we lost who we were together, the fun that we had, and who we were as individuals before becoming parents. So we started movie nights, sometimes out and sometimes in. I went out with friends, just because I could. I saw plays, watched my youngest start preschool and forged a path within my career that although bumpy is working out. I enjoyed each piece of that.

If you have not figured it out, I learned to let go. Let go of thinking I had to be the best room mother, I had to make the best crafts (I am girl stupid so crafts and I are like foreign languages), etc. However I did coach my daughters soccer team and loved it, even though she is only there half the time. I started helping in her classroom too. I engage with my older sons teachers as well so they know if they need anything to just ask. I pushed my kids out the door to go play and be creative and over Christmas break they even began to play together more and be happy together instead of trying to kill one another. Makeup goes on when I want it to go on as opposed to because I think it needs to go on. I am trying to yell less, walk away more, and stand up for myself. Doing these things has made me a better person which has made me a better mom. Yoga is a great workout and helps me relax and my 6 year old comes with me and works on breathing too.

This has made me feel whole, it has made me feel balanced. So renewing myself for 2014 is sticking to this path and now fine tuning it with my children benefiting along the way!
So tell me, what is your path for 2014? Where are you wanting to go in life?