We thought about coming up with parenting “resolutions,” but realized resolutions are too easy to break, whereas parenting “goals” are attainable. We hope some of what follows will put you in a good place to tackle the next twelve months. 

ASK AN EXPERT: Achieving your New Year’s parenting goals

We sat down with Leslie Schrock, author of Bumpin: The Modern Guide to Pregnancy, to talk about some of her parenting goals for 2022. Here’s a breakdown of what she had to say. (We felt better immediately, and hope you do too.) 

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1. My goal in 2022 personally is to give myself grace and step back and acknowledge that it’s been a really rough few years. This is so true for parents of young kids. Kids haven’t been able to socialize as much as usual. School and activities have still been canceled. Acknowledge that and sit with that. It’s not our fault that our kids haven’t had a million playdates. It is what it is. Exercise some forgiveness and grace. You’ve had to make choices for your family that are very hard, and did the best you can.  

2. Celebrate and mourn your old life. And look forward. Personally, I moved out of San Francisco. It was a difficult decision but right for my family. So many people moved cross-country or made other big life choices. Acknowledge that life might not be the same as it was before. And that’s ok. You can mourn old friendships and relationships. Allow yourself to process the loss. Have a celebration for the life you had. 

3. For working parents, accept that in many ways you’re not going to have the quantitative time with your children that you’re going to want. Instead, focus on quality. For our family, we have specific times of the day that are just for us. We start our day together and end our day together. I carve out specific time, and I don’t judge myself for quantitative time over quality time, because when I’m with my kids, I’m with my kids. 

4. For stay-at-home parents, try to include your kids in whatever you’re doing. There’s a way to include kids in what you love. If I’m baking something, I let them help. If I’m working out, I let them run around while I work out. Even if it’s just 15-20 minutes. I don’t limit myself based on what my child wants to do. I include him in what I want to do. 

5. And lastly, get out of your house and go for a walk. By yourself, with your kids. Whatever you feel you need and can do. I think just getting a change of venue and a change of scenery is so important. Moving your body plus fresh air is key. 

You can connect with Leslie online at leslieschrock.com or on Twitter and Instagram.