I’ve decided that January is a terrible time for new year’s resolutions. There is too much to do!! January is when you pack away the Christmas and Hanukkah and other holiday decorations and get your house back to ‘normal’. It is when you find homes for all the new stuff you have acquired since Black Friday. It is when you try to find time to review your holiday card list and check it against all the cards you received, updating as you go, adding, deleting, sending embarrassed emails (still haven’t done this)… January is back to school month, whether you live in the northern or southern hemisphere. Either it is the start of a new school year, with all the requisite shopping and preparation, or it is time to go back to school after 2 or 3 weeks of skiing, or lounging on the beach, and it still requires shopping for clothes that fit, and getting mentally prepared. You may have to get over jetlag or airplane germs, or just take a few naps after staying up late too often over the holidays. (This is an issue for kids and parents, especially if said kids are up at 5am regardless of when they went to bed.) Or perhaps you have a child starting school for the first time and you have to read a lot of books and have a lot of reassuring chats at bedtime. If you have a child hoping to start school in the fall (northern hemisphere), January is the time to apply. It is also the time to book summer camps, make summer travel plans, and book camp sites if you want to go camping any time this year. (I haven’t done any of these yet, but I gather it is important!).

There is so much to do to get settled into a new year just trying to build a schedule that somehow works for all family members, accounts for school drop offs and pick ups, accommodates ‘mommy and me’ classes, and if you’re lucky, has a little room for you to go and exercise or meet a friend for coffee. And this is true whether you work outside the home or stay home with kids. Making this schedule is serious work and January is the time to do it. Don’t resolve to exercise 3 times a week (or even at all!) until you’ve given yourself time to put plans in place. I know you ate too much over the holidays, believe me, I’m right there with you, but you can’t bite off more than you can chew, so to speak. Without a schedule of what happens when, a map of the week, babysitters or other backups in place, and good bit of luck, you will never be able to stick your goals.

So, don’t be despondent if haven’t done as well as you’d hoped on your new years resolutions… You wanted to make more time for yourself this year, get regular facials, go to the gym, cook healthy meals, buy new dish towels so you can stop look at those frayed and stained ones every day… You’re right on track! You’ve given  your goals some thought, you’re getting new ideas as you clear away the holiday junk, and you probably have (some) kids back in school now (at least some of the time). So you are ready for the next step. Draw up that weekly plan with time for the kids, time for you (alone or with friends or at the gym or whatever), and time for your spouse. Once you now what that looks like, you can make sure you have the necessary backup – Dada takes kids for a few hours on Saturday morning, babysitter two mornings a week, carpool to school one day a week so you can go for a walk, grandma comes over one afternoon to play with kids and brings dinner (lucky you!!)… Whatever it looks like for you, make a plan, be sure to plan in some time away from your family, (this is very important for moms, especially if you are a new parent and care for an infant 24 hours a day!) and get ready for February.

For now, if there’s a gap to do something for yourself, by all means take it, but don’t beat yourself up if it’s not as often as you’d like. This is especially true in January, but really anytime. We are all doing our best to get through the days and take care of ourselves and our families. That already deserves a pat on the back! Consider this one from me to you. We’re all moms who are ordinary people – strong, wonderful, loving, kind, beautiful, amazing UNsuper women! We rock!

February is a great time to get started on  your plan. Valentine’s Day could also be good if you need a little more time. A day celebrating love is a great day to start something new, however small, to show yourself some love. And just think, the gyms will be emptier than in January, the dish towels will be on sale, and you can ask for a spa voucher for Valentine’s Day. Fired up and ready to go!