Winter is basically here and in Minnesota it lasts for a long while! Time to look ahead at the next few cold months and set our 2018 Winter Family Goals.
Winter season is here. Aka the hardest season of all! Dun dun duuuunnn!
The last 3 winters have been challenging for me. The first because I was pregnant and working. The next because I was a first time stay-at-home mom with a baby, and last winter because I was pregnant with baby#2 while chasing a hyperactive toddler.
And lets be real, this winter will not be a walk in the park. BUT and this is a big BUT… I feel way more prepared for this winter than the last few. Here’s why.
I have been mentally preparing for this winter for a while! I’ve pretty much been thinking about this winter since Beany was born. Mostly because I was petrified about managing 2 tiny kids during frigid months but also because I want to try to enjoy the season more. AKA I want to embrace hygge (the danish word for living well and cozy in the winter).
I want think hygge, feel hygge, enjoy hygge, and just be a big happy hygge mama bear.
OK I probably won’t get that far but I do want to find the good in winter for me and for the girls. So this is my #1 focus this year.
The rest of our family goals are about finding a balance between enjoying time with our kids, making time for us as parents and spending time on our health.
2018 Winter Family Goals
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Embrace Hygge
Evenings in front of the fireplace playing with the girls, reading books, sipping hot chocolate and just relaxing. Seems easy right? Well somehow this is really hard for me to do for the duration of the long cold winter.
To help embrace hygge, we hope to plan at least 2 weekend stay-cations focused on enjoying winter. We want to do more at-home art projects/crafts with the girls, read more, and get creative building forts, etc. Lots of hot chocolate, coffee, tea, movies, and baked goods will help too!
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Go to the gym 2-3 days a week
So far this goal has been doable, surprisingly! We use the gym child care and/or take turns going by ourselves. This is especially important when it’s virtually impossible to workout outside. We also want to take Poppy to the pool more!
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Speak more Spanish to the girls
Now that Poppy is picking up sentences like crazy, her Spanish has improved immensely! I am doing my best to speak more Spanish to both girls at home during the day. The more Spanish they can hear and mimic the better.
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Find new local blog partnerships
I am excited to focus my attention on working with local companies on recipe development and photography. But in order to do this, I need to carve out time to make connections and build relationships. And even though I never seem to have enough time, my goal this winter is to somehow make time for projects that are important to me. I can do it!
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Plan our 5 year anniversary
Our 5 year anniversary is coming up and we need to make it epic! We are considering exploring a foodie city without the girls. That means I need to get to planning planning planning!
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Go sledding with Poppy
She is finally old enough to enjoy sledding so this is the winter to do it! Also I want to get Poppy outside playing in the snow on days that are not terribly cold. Living here, I feel like the girls and I need to get more comfortable playing outside in the snow instead of avoid it.
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Date night and solo time
Not going to lie, it’s been much harder to find time for date nights with two little kids. It’s honestly hard to find any alone time at all.
We are trying to make it a priority to find time for us to talk, have dinner together, and just relax without the girls. At the same time, we are making a conscious effort to individual alone time to do too. Spend time with friends, go to the gym, do hobbies, or simply run errands alone.
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Read more
As part of spending more time indoors in the winter, we want to make a family effort to read more. All of us! More time reading to Poppy, and more time for the hubs and I to unwind reading rather than in front of a screen.
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Exploring our city
Seeking out new activities in the Twin Cities keeps the winter season spontaneous and fun. I want to continue trying new things, new places, and getting together with new people and old friends.
Personally a goal for me is to invite more people to do things. I often get comfortable exploring the city with just my girls, but I find things are always much more interesting with others. So as a general rule, I am hoping to invite 1 friend a week to do something.
I am really excited for this winter to be totally honestly, which is surprising for me. I know some days will be hard and I will get cabin fever sometimes, but I’m looking forward to tackling my winter goals and enjoying my first winter as a mom of 2!
Originally posted 2017-12-16 09:48:00.
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