Baby Steps

Happy 2024!

For years, I’ve resisted making a list of New Year’s resolutions. Sometimes, I was a wee bit snooty about not joining in with the crowd. I mean, I’ve never been one to march in step with others. (Sorry, Mom!) At other times, I was so deep in the abyss of depression that I could barely see clearly to the next day, much less the full year. To be honest, there were times that the only thing that got me out of bed was the need to care for my children. And the depression was only made worse by scrolling through my social media.

Social media, while it can be a blessing, is also a great tool for us to use to beat ourselves up. We see these carefully curated images of our friends and frenemies, and we compare ourselves to the façade. Even though I knew that what I was seeing was airbrushed and Photoshopped and staged and in super-soft focus, I looked around my cluttered house at my decidedly prosaic life and slide deeper into the abyss. But we can’t compare ourselves to social media. And we have to take the time to take care of ourselves. You can’t take care of your loved ones if you don’t take care of yourself. You can’t keep pouring from an empty cup.

(Yes, I see the irony of posting this on our social media accounts.)

So this year, I’m making resolutions. Actually, I’m going to take some baby steps. I hope that I’ll be courageous enough to check in throughout the year to let you all know how things are going. (Accountability, right?) Even if I’m not brave enough to do that, I’m going to work on me this year. And these resolutions are baby steps to making a better me.

Lee’s Baby Steps for 2024

I’m going to keep working on getting back into shape. I’ve never been skinny, and honestly, I don’t want to be skinny, but I want to be healthy again. After several years of weird health issues, 2024 is going to be the year that I get back into my body and also model healthy habits for my kiddos.

I’m going to work on teaching my children to be financially literate. I’ve done this off and on throughout the years, but It takes a lot of work, and I inevitably give up.

I’m going to treat myself to a massage or a facial once a quarter, damn the cost.

Come hell or high water, this is the year that I conquer the clutter. The year of online schooling really messed me up, and I’ve never dug us out from under the mess. 2024 is the year!

And finally, I’m going to get out and do things with friends again. For the past few years, this extrovert has become a hermit, and that’s going to change this year!

That’s it. There are so many others that I could list, but I’m self-aware enough to know that I have a bad habit of biting off more than I can chew. Five resolutions is more than enough for me to work on throughout the year. As I said before, I hope to be courageous enough to check in every now and then to let you know how these are going and to hold myself accountable, but that sounds suspiciously like another resolution, so I’m not going to pressure myself.

Whatever happens with my resolutions, we here at Tanglewood Moms/Madeworthy hope that your 2024 is happy, healthy, and full of love!