As the New Year approaches, many of us reflect on ways to improve and grow, and for families, this often includes setting resolutions to improve our parenting. There are endless ideas out there — some guilt-inducing and others that are incredibly aspirational. But New Year’s resolutions don’t have to be impossible or stressful! Whether you want to focus on fostering more quality time, improving communication or managing stress, setting achievable goals can help parents create a more balanced and joyful family dynamic.
Chief Academic Officer of The Goddard School®, Dr. Lauren Loquasto, offers these practical resolutions for parents as we approach the New Year.
- Be present. We live very busy lives, often with our cell phones glued to our hands, metaphorically. Make a commitment to pick a time of day where you remove all distractions, put your phone away and be fully present with your child. These moments of uninterrupted pure focus are immensely valuable and positively impactful to your child’s social and emotional development and strengthens the parent-child bond.
- Play. Connect with your child’s wonder of the world around them. Ask your child to play with you and follow their lead. Dress-up, run through the leaves, be the voice of the puppet or try to jump over obstacles with your child. Letting your child take the lead in play helps develop their executive function skills and vocabulary. Plus, it’s just plain fun! Setting aside grown-up worries to be present and play is great for adults, too.
- Reframe what you are seeing. Raising children is challenging at times (hello, tantrums in the grocery store), but remember that behavior is communication. Your child’s actions are just as powerful a communication as their words. Instead of focusing on the behavior, ask yourself “What is my child communicating to me?” A tantrum may mean that your child is asking for your time and attention. Reframing these hard moments will radically change your response.
- Laugh. As cliché as it is, your child grows faster and changes quicker than you can imagine. Find the joy in the age and stage your child is in today. Smile, laugh and revel in the moment. As difficult as moments can be, this age, the exact age your child is right now, will be over before you know it … and you’ll miss it.
New Year, New Perspective
As you welcome 2025, remember that resolutions don’t need to be grand gestures or perfectly executed plans. Small, intentional shifts in how you connect with your child can have an extraordinary impact. Parenting is a journey filled with challenges and joy, and these resolutions offer a roadmap to help you embrace each moment more fully. Here’s to a year of being present, playing with purpose and finding joy in the everyday magic of raising your child!
