By Micki Bare
The extra time over the holiday break historically brought on boredom, which in turn could jump start creativity in a child. At least it did for me.
So in the days between Christmas and New Year’s, I spent quite a bit of time developing my list of resolutions for the crisp new calendar year that loomed ahead.
As I grew older, I began losing that creativity and focusing on the garden-variety resolutions. I vowed to lose weight. I promised to save more money. Each year was the year I was going to do or start or make something different.
This year, I reflected on why we, or at least I — I suppose it is possible that I am the ONLY one with this problem — never seem to keep resolutions longer than a month or two.
When I was young and creative, I was simply sidetracked by growing up. School started back and I was busy with homework, friends, sports and music. Making resolutions was nothing more than a creative writing exercise that kept me busy over the break.
As an adult, I actually did want to keep my resolutions. But priorities always bumped my list of promises to the back burner where I suppose it caught fire and was destroyed. There were a couple of years during which I beat the system by creating extremely easy-to-keep resolutions. Lowering the bar makes life achievable, I guess. And I did keep those resolutions, but they were less than noteworthy.
This year, I’ve taken a different approach. I wanted a list of meaningful resolutions that I have a shot at keeping. First, I ate some chocolate-covered marshmallows, stirred some hot chocolate with a candy cane and conjured up my inner child. Once I felt young and creative again, it came to me: THEME RESOLUTIONS.
For my 2010 list of resolutions, I needed a theme. “What area of my life needs work?” I asked my inner child.
“
Duh, how about technology? You act all technologically savvy, but texting ‘idk’ to your son when he asks if he can head to the skateboard park after school makes you a dork, not a cool, up-to-date person of the world.”
My inner child can be a bit harsh. But I try to be understanding. She won’t start drinking coffee for another decade, and Mountain Dew wasn’t invented yet, so my inner child is a caffeine-free version of myself.
With my resolution theme all worked out, I began coming up with some promises for 2010. First, prompted by my inner child as well as my own children, I will not use texting shorthand with my children in an attempt to be the cool mom. I will stop using idk, omw, thx and aight with my boys. I will also cut back on my use of LOL.
Second, I will back up my laptop regularly. And I won’t simply back up different categories of information on my array of thumb drives. I will learn how to use the terabyte external drive that I purchased on sale last summer, including all the neat functions like the scheduled auto-backup. In 2010, if the worst happens, life will go on.
The other reason I need to back up my data regularly is directly related to my third resolution. I will purchase a new laptop in 2010. My new laptop will be lightweight, so I can easily travel with it and pull it out in meetings without disrupting conversation and spilling someone’s mocha latte.
It will also have the most up-to-date operating system and software available on the purchase date. I am getting annoyed having to convert the boys’ homework into my archaic version of our word processing software every time they pop their thumb drive into my computer so they can print out a research paper or book report.
Which brings me to yet another resolution: this year, everyone in the household is going to be required to load our wireless printer software on their computers. This should cut down significantly on the interruptions that occur in my office when everyone returns from school and work each afternoon.
My fifth resolution is to limit my screen time. I once wrote a magazine article about limiting screen time for children. Yet now I find myself looking at a computer, my BlackBerry or the television during nearly every waking hour. If I am home, and I’ve put in more than eight hours of work, I will put my PDA phone in the office and walk away. For at least two hours each day, I will not respond to cell calls, emails or texts.
Well, maybe one hour a day. Ok, 30 minutes.
And while I work — LOL — on my resolutions, from our family to yours, we wish you a healthy, happy, prosperous New Year!
—
Micki Bare is a columnist for the Arkansas News Bureau and the Courier-Tribune in Asheboro, N.C., and author of the book, “Relative Expressions.” She lives in Asheboro with her husband and three children. Her e-mail address is mickibare@inspiredscribe.com.
