2018 #MOMGOALS

It's my first post of 2018 and I want to make it a strong and memorable one.  I recently shared on my Instagram a bit of my reflections on 2017, including the good and the bad.  I also mentioned that I have set goals for 2018 but will be keeping them mainly to myself and my most trusted and supportive group of people, who I know will push me through to succeed and hold me accountable in a positive way.   As the first few days of 2018 have gone by I've really been thinking about those goals, which are primarily focused on my own asspirations for myself. But it made me dig a bit deeper and also create another branch of goals....#momgoals and these I want to share with you all.  

1. Present Over Perfect

I definitely want to practice the act of being more present.  I feel like its always on top of mind, but something always "gets in the way."  But it's time I stop using that as an excuse and actually focus on being more present with Q and learning new things with him rather than trying to already have them figured out and aiming for perfection.  I feel like perfection as a mom is never going to be achieved because it is one tough-ass job and every single one of us does things differently.  So I'll be shifting my focus to being more present, rather than striving to make sure I do something right.  I've set some specifics around this goal; to try and give myself at least one solid hour a day of play or one on one activity time without the interruption of my phone, email or TV!  Which likely means less IG stories, but there are some memories and stories that only the heart can hold. 

2. More Flexible

I tend to have some pretty "hard core" rules and schedules when it comes to Q, such as his sleep schedule, what time he eats and what types of activities he does on what days.  Though a lot of these are because I want to help create a sense of structure and values in his life as he grows, I know it's not always going to go 100% my way, especially when he's in the care of others.  There have been moments when I've done a recap with grandparents when he's slept over or been under their care and my eyes bulge or my mouth drops when they tell me what time he actually went to bed, or that they cradled him to sleep instead of having him nap in his crib.  Shortly after those moments, where it feels likes my heart has stopped, I come back to reality and think to myself, "so what if it was one night he went to sleep at 830 instead of 730", or "why am I freaking out that he got cuddles from his grandmother that made him feel so soothed he fell asleep."  So with that in mind, I'm vowing to myself to stay a bit more flexible this year when it comes things like this.  Fierce, but Flexible is the goal here! 

3. Adventure

I want to make life simple and minimal for us this year.  Over the last two years I feel we have gathered so much, especially in the kid department.  So I'm really going to make it a priority to evaluate our space and our time and focus on less stuff and more on adventure.  With this I'm hoping to minimize on buying stuff for Q to keep him busy and getting out more on our days together for hikes, exploring different parks in new neighbourhoods, taking him up to the mountains and in the summer lots of beach days.  I'm hoping we can both learn to find adventure in the most simple things, even a trip the grocery store! 

4. Nurture

Lastly, if you read my Instagram post you'll know my word for 2018 is Nurture!  So one of my mom goals is to teach nurture to Q by nurturing our relationship further. How will I do that?  Well it's really going to be about focusing on my behaviour around him.  As he's growing we're finding him to be more and more perceptive everyday, so I'm really going to put an effort in watching my tones, facial expressions and the words and gestures I use in our interactions. My hope is this positive nurturing will teach him what behaviours are acceptable and unacceptable in the world.  I'm fairly aware about my behaviour for the most part, but as we've entered the #TenaciousTwos, there are definitely some challenges, so if I can do my part by nurturing our relationship I strongly believe he will learn to emulate the behaviour.

I would love to hear some of your #momgoals for the year, or just your goals overall even if they're not mom related!  Wishing all you babes a successful, loving, positive and energectic start to the year!