As a parent, I appreciate new beginnings. Do you ever feel like you just need a clean slate, or a fresh perspective to start again?

There are things I look back on and know I should have done differently as a parent. Such as not telling my then two-year old daughter while she was in the middle of a theatrical outburst, “Is that the best you can do? I did better than that when I was a child.” Not good. My intention was to let her know that I wasn’t buying her dramatics as I’d been there and knew what she was doing. Instead, I fueled a challenge.  

So often in parenting, we have to change gears, redirect our course, or start again. What worked for a time, doesn’t work any more. New issues arise. As our children grow, we have to adjust our parenting to fit their maturing minds. Yes, parenting is always moving and changing.

But new beginnings are good! It’s one of the reasons I love the month of January. I love the chance to reassess and evaluate how something can be done differently. Rather than be discouraged of what isn’t working, I get energized coming up with Plan … Z. It gives me fresh perspective, a clean slate, and new information to work from.

New beginning aren’t limited to January, although our minds gravitate to beginning again with a new year. So what in our parenting, do we need to reassess? What method isn’t working and how can we do it differently.

Rather than continue as we have been, let’s take time to see where we need to make changes in our strategies. Who knows, you might even be keyed up starting with a clean slate. It may even provide the push needed to jump start the new year!