White Knuckle Parenting: Resolutions 2012

Contrary to what you may have read here, I think I am a pretty good parent. That said, there is always room for improvement. (Or, like, four rooms.) As the beginning of January seems to be the time to make such changes, I have decided to make some parenting resolutions for 2012.

Cook fresher dinners: This resolution could read "Cook dinner," but then my claim to be a good parent would seem specious. In truth, I always manage to feed my kids, but not in the manner I would most prefer. This year, I am determined to change my oldest son's opinion that Hamburger Helper is the most delicious food on the planet. I intend to visit more farmer's markets, cook more from scratch, and earn less money for our school via Box Tops on packaged foods. In a perfect world, I would hope that my pickiest eater would deign to eat a fruit or vegetable this year, but we don't live in a perfect world.

Drive a cleaner car: If things continue the way they have been, pretty soon my family will need to don HazMat suits before we get into our minivan. I cleaned my car last week, and I think I found a french fry that is older than my youngest kid. (It was delicious.) I intend to get in there and clear out extra sweatshirts, stray Legos, and accumulated trash at least once a week. I'll also be vacuuming up my weight in pretzel crumbs. Don't even get me started on the sludge that I will scrub out of the cup holders.

Take more weekend excursions: The best gifts are experiences, right? When my kids are older, they aren't going to look back with joy and nostalgia on weekends spent playing video games. They are going to remember weekends spent hiking, letterboxing, going to museums, and exploring new parks. They will remember those outings—whether they enjoyed them or not.  I'm going to try to take my kids on an adventure a week. What could be better than that? (Answer: those same adventures without the whining that is going to ensue. Oh, it's going to be terrible.)

Throw away my kids' toys: I am sick and tired of clutter. All those toys that I was so excited to buy my kids over the past few years? I hate them now with the intensity of a thousand white-hot suns. I'm tired of stepping over them and I am more than done with stepping on them. My plan this year is to get rid of everything my kids didn't play with in 2011. Note: "playing" does not mean "dumping a box full of pieces on the floor and then abandoning it." Honestly, if I do this right, they might not even notice.

Be more positive: I make sure to tell my kids I love them every single day. I try to catch them being good as often as I catch them being bad. I work very hard on their self-esteem. Still, I spend a fair amount of time whining about being tired or being surly about doing chores. I complain in front of them about the drag of everyday life more than is really necessary. Not anymore. I'm not talking about being unrealistically sunny, I'm just talking about modeling for my kids that it is a lot more fun to look on the bright side of life. I am aware that this destroys any hopes I have of becoming a snarky-cool hipster. Really I am just a big, dumb optimist. This is the year I accept that fact and pass it on to my kids. 

Happy New Year to all of you. More than anything, I hope that you have a safe and healthy 2012, full of love. But also, I want to steal your good parenting ideas. What are your parenting resolutions for the coming year?

Jean, a.k.a. Stimey, writes a personal blog at Stimeyland; an autism-events website for Montgomery County, Maryland, at AutMont; and a column called Autism Unexpected in the Washington Times Communities. You can find her on Twitter as @Stimey.