My Parenting Goals for 2019

A friend asked to pen something down for an upcoming blog, and I said yes, because I would never refuse an opportunity to write. 

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My single parenting goal for 2019 is to - 

Stay Calm and Be like a Wave in the Ocean of Life

As a full time mom to an energetic and eternally curious 15 month old, the first part of my resolution is virtually impossible. Nevertheless, it is there to remind me that the only thing constant about overwhelming days and sleepless nights is just that – more overwhelming days and more sleepless nights. I like to think of myself as a recently reformed control freak and micro planner, so my new (non-) plan for 2019 is to let the day take me along, rather than me dragging the day and my screaming baby along a path that is supposedly the ‘right’ one, but which neither of us wants in the first place. 

Schedules and routines notwithstanding, I want to allow for more unstructured exploration, both for my baby and me, be it spontaneous outings to the park, new games that can only be played with kitchen vessels (if I am doing so much with it, my baby thinks, it must be an interesting toy right?) or doing “just enough” housework rather than creating a perfect home with gleaming surfaces and everything in its place.  

To a child each day is a fresh start, an empty canvas to create for herself any picture that she fancies. In 2019, I want to be like her, approaching each day with a deep breath and a blank slate, watching it ebb and flow like a tiny wave in the giant ocean.

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I did it. Called myself a full time mom, and wrote it down also, because let's face it, when I had the chance to postpone a few things off my back, this is what I kept - the baby care. I am actually somewhere in between full time mom and mom figuring out what she wants to do, but it's an 80-20 right now. 

I have also pledged to reform my perfectionistic tendencies by choosing where to apply them, and so far it seems to be working beautifully. I don't remember the last time I cleaned my dining table, and I took a 1.5 hour nap in the afternoon yesterday. Because I felt sleepy. 

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I am happy to share that a part of my writeup got featured here.