On New Years Eve day, while we were making toddler crafts and baking cookies, my mind naturally wandered to the idea of New Year’s resolutions. As I jot a few things in my mental list, it opened a flood gate of “things I want to do.”

Consulting a few mom friends, they were feeling the exact same way that I was: trying to come up with a list of “resolutions” felt more like we were making this giant to do list of tasks that seemed to be missing the point. Don’t get me wrong, I’m 100% keeping that list to organize the storage space, shuffle bookshelves/clothing sizes/toys to the appropriate ages and finally finish those Christmas stockings (2026 is my year, right?). In the past I’ve tried to come up with a resolution or goal in each major area of my life: career, financial, family, personal. This is still a really good system, but this year I’m going in a different direction and following the “pick a word for your year” trend!

This was suggested to me last week by a friend and coach/mentor; after being in the loop to some of my emotional stressors in the month of December in my Christmas crash-out, and not even thinking about the new year yet, she had brought up the idea of “boundaries” being my word for the year. Usually I would say something like “organization” or “time management” but those don’t quite ring true either. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if I’m really honest with myself, it’s not that I have bad time management, in fact it’s quite good. It really boils down to the fact that I’m not always realistic about what a person can accomplish in a given period of time for the sake of wanting to do and be more. So let’s not set myself up for failure by acting like I have 33 hours in a day as I jam-pack my schedule.

Okay, so now what?

My 2026 resolution is to be intentional with my time. This will allow me to optimize the increased demands at work and pour into the relationships that I want to focus on, addressing my aforementioned crash out. Bringing my best to my husband and kids, nurturing the relationships that keep me steady, and tuning out the drama buzzing in the background. I’ll still be holding onto that initial to-do list, but without feeling like completing household tasks is the depth of my worth thankyouverymuch. Breaking away from that deep seated idea that my worth is tied to my productivity, it touches on the organization and time management without harshly demanding more, more, MORE. Here are a few tangible points I’m making to keep myself aligned to this goal:

First and foremost is prioritizing my husband and babies; everything else listed below is setting me up for success to bring my best self home to them and showing up how I want to in motherhood:

• Be more intentional about my screen usage in front of the girls. Using my screens for work, music, and research with the girls (recipes, crafts or answering questions) are my exceptions but there’s no need to open up social media aimlessly in front of them
• Continue and expand my “homemade” journey! 2025’s goal of not buying bread, buns, tortillas from the grocery store was a hit and creating “something from nothing” for my family gives me a great sense of value
• Stop getting lost in trying to be everything for everyone – show my love and gratitude openly and often to the relationships that keep me grounded and reevaluate a path forward for the ones that feel like they’re draining me without fear of disappointing other people (this will be HARD and is not to say to just “give up” on relationships without doing my due diligence)

And of course, there are things that just simply need to be done for the wheels to keep turning and life to be comfortable:

• 2025 held the homeschool learning curve; 2026 I have a prep plan and better systems I’m putting in place that will keep me organized and execute timely learning goals but still keep it fun and light for Layla
• Work is, well, work. I need the income, so it has to be done 🤷‍♀️ But making a conscious effort to remove the emotional attachment of my self worth to my job allows me to not carry over any stress into my home life
• Take that to-do list of lower-stakes household tasks I keep mentioning and put a timeline to it. Completing one a week will force me to prioritize and still get things done without overwhelm

This is the blueprint that has me walking into 2026 with confidence and a clear path forward! I’m excited to see what lies ahead and hope you are too ♥️