My daughter recently gave up sucking her thumb. This was no small feat! She has been an avid thumb sucker since she was a little over a month old. She combined it with her “happy” (holy, germ infested rag of a blanket) for the perfect soothing combo. Every time the dentist suggested she stop I would come up with a reason why she CANT do it right now. The orthodontist gave her a game plan and told her it would help make her teeth better and she has been without sucking her thumb for two weeks now. Bravo!
This year I am hoping to give up the retail game. I realize as I type this, that I use “retail therapy” as a soothing element. Not all the time (I also use eating, exercising, wine and excessive television in bed time), but sometimes I find myself with some time and an itch to shop and off I go. On these days I will end up buying lots and lots of “stuff”. Some stuff I have been meaning to get for a while. Other stuff struck my fancy as I was out and ended up in my house.
My daughter made a calendar and put puppy stickers for each night she went without sucking and a paw print for every day after school when she abstained. What should I do? Stickers on a calendar seems a bit to childish for me. This is something I will need to think about, consider and track. I have lots of goals for next year that can be broken down into days. My perfect day includes working out, tracking what I eat, making no purchases of new items, mediation, taking a moment to be thankful/list my favorite things and the deculttering of 12 items from my home. That’s a lot of stuff! I can guarantee there will be days when I am not successful in one or more of these categories. I get lazy, I get gluttonous, I have hoarder tendencies and there are times when introspection is painful and I want to avoid it. But I will have days of success! I know this. I want to keep track. So here is goal/resolution #100 (well, it feels like it!) to keep a journal…how about on line where I am accountable. Here seems like the perfect spotJ
The one thing I can do at this point in the day, as it’s early, is say that I am thankful for my husband. I know that seems like a “Duh” statement, but really as a husband, father and provider he is the tops. When the kids want/need to go crazy he’s the guy to make that happen for them. To see the joy he and our son have in their shared love of sports is fantastic and the joy on their faces and voices when the kids greet him at the end of the work day is a gift, even to me. We have worked out 6 days a week for almost 3 years (most weeks anyway) and I would never be in that habit without him. I also would never have taken up skiing or golf. He is a hard worker, who is able to support our family financially and we are not a cheap group. He trusts me with our finances and our children’s health and wellbeing. There are times when I wish for other attributes, but when you look at the fundamentals, he is rock solid and so is our marriage. I cannot think of a better role model for our children than him as their father and our marriage intact.
So I need to start a few new habits as the new-year begins. I need to re-learn how to deal with my “need” to shop. What will that look like? I will keep you posted. This is a learning process for me. I hope you join me on this journey. I am excited about the possibilities! Happy New Year!
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