Presenting Our Resolutions

When I was kid my parents would ask each of us kids to make at least 5 New Year's resolutions for the upcoming year. We would present our five resolutions during our family New Year's celebration. Each of us would stand up after we were done eating dinner and share our resolutions. Each resolution would be written on an individual sheet of paper so it could be ceremoniously placed in a special box that would be opened the following year. My Mom would also transfer each of the resolutions to a compiled list that we would place on the refrigerator for the entire year ahead. After each of us was done reading our resolutions, my Dad would take out the box from the previous year. He would pull out each of the resolutions, one by one and we would report on the progress we made toward that resolution the previous year.

Not only was the "ceremony" a special New Year's celebration for our family, but the approach my parents took towards the resolutions made each of accountable for setting goals for the next year.

~Katie H., Evanston, IL