We have come to the end of 2015.
A time to reflect, a time to look ahead.
Usually at this juncture, I will be feeling very kan cheong (harried), desperately trying to get everything ready before New Year’s Day descends on me.
House organised, schedules drawn up, making sure all 6 of them are ready for the new school year.
I have stopped bothering about resolutions, which never get achieved.
Last year, I decided instead to write down my top 5 priorities to concentrate on.
I had a re-read of it, and will continue to focus on them, with some additions.
This year, I feel surprisingly calm. I think I’m reaching a more zen state, where I have learnt to focus on the essentials instead of running around like a headless chicken.
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It was nice to see the girls on auto-pilot, de-cluttering their rooms and doing DIY decorations to spruce their rooms up for the brand new year. Their room feels all light and breezy and I want to sit at their desk and study!
2016 is going to be an exciting year for us. #2 will be taking her ‘O’s, #3 will be having her streaming exams and #4 will tackle the PSLE.
For non-critical years I allow them to cruise along, with the focus on having a balanced life of school, adequate sleep, physical activity and lots of simple fun for a happy childhood.
In the important years, the focus shifts to the national exams and they (hopefully) rise to the occasion. I don’t know about my boy, but the girls instinctively know it is a year they work doubly hard and put in their best effort.
I am looking forwards to watching them get self-motivated, set their own goals and action plan while I sit on the sidelines and cheer them on.
For #4, I’ve got it pretty much sorted out with regards to guiding her for the PSLE as I’ve done this 3 times over and have learnt what not to do.
As for #2, I still haven’t quite figured out how involved I should be in the Sec 4 year. The strategy for #1 obviously did not work, as I left her to plan her own revision. At 16, they have to be parented differently from when they were 12. But when do we put our foot down? Ah well, it is a work in progress and I will update you at the end of the year!
As for #5, I’ll be working on his discipline issues as he still has problems behaving properly in class. He likes to do things his own way (which doesn’t please his teachers at all) and he gets bored easily and starts to distract his classmates.
Kate will be in school for an extra hour as compared to last year, which means more free time for me. Hooray!
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| Ever so cheeky |
For myself, I will be embarking on a new venture and hope to see it take shape in this coming year.
I’ve been home with the kids for 17 long years and everything revolved around them that it feels surreal to be gradually reclaiming my life and doing meaningful things I am passionate about. So exciting!
Here’s wishing you a purposeful and intentional year ahead. May you dream big dreams and may they be fulfilled.
Happy New Year!