For me, the week between Christmas and New Years is the perfect time to think about what was and look ahead to what could be. Of course you can do that anytime really. Review what happened and dream about possibilities. For me, a new calendar year is a natural time to do that.
Any time of transition is also a good time to review life. When something has ended, or is ending. When there is a shift in life, seasons, or schedules. Those are all good times to pause and think and dream.
This year, I involved my family in the process. The youngest is 11 now and all they kids have their definite opinions about what they want to happen (or don’t want to happen, namely mom or dad embarrassing them in any way).
So, using some ideas from Take Back Your Time by Christy Wright, I asked my family 3 questions. Here’s what they had to say!
What did we do right/well in 2021?
- Summer trip (it truly was an epic road trip west!)
- Kids got to do their own activities
- Supported each other, mostly (mostly was their word!)
- grades/school, mostly
- Meal planning
- Fun stuff
- Mom apologizing (this was a year of me really trying to model owning my behavior/choices and making amends)
- Car care (We didn’t wreck anything in 2021! Saved that for 4 days into 2022.)
- camping
What did we do wrong/poorly in 2021?
- Hang out with friends
- Family gym time
- Cooperation
- Game nights
- Racetrack visits
What new things do you want to try in 2022?
- Minecon (Anyone want to cover that trip for us?!)
- Parent interaction (When middle schoolers tell you they want to hang with you more you listen!)
- Dog (yes, they want another dog)
- Paintballing
- Shooting
- Adventure
- Later bedtimes (already made some shifts on this one!)
Each kid also set some personal goals. These responses, and the discussion around them, have really helped me prioritize some things in 2022. We’ll make some decisions and plans using this feedback too (more on that in a later post).
So I’m curious, did you do a 2021 year in review? How would you answer those three questions?
Rev. Kris Mares 