Have you ever gotten to January and thought, Wow! I didn't get everything done I wanted to! ??
I have. And it all comes down to choices and priorities on top of managing my time. After that first time of feeling that way once the new year started I knew I wanted to not have that happen again. While I have tried my best, I haven't always been successful. And here I am to share some of the things I started doing a few years ago to make sure I had zero regrets.
Write a List: This list will encompass all the things you want to do from baking cookies to watching certain movies to what events you are doing.
Research: I go online to see what dates and what the costs are for certain things. Where we live there is a Polar Express Train or a corn maze even the Ice Castles. I will write down those dates and costs.
Plan Together: Once we have our list that includes dates and costs Scott and I will go over what we want to spend and what our schedule allows. Then we put things on the calendar and purchase our tickets.
Fill in the Gaps: We will fill in the gaps with the things that we will do at home or we can do easily without a lot of planning.
Don't Overdo It: Between Halloween and New Years it is easy to fill each weekend with stuff to do. But I would advise not doing that. Allow down time. Allow weekends to just be normal. Kids get exhausted, adults get exhausted and it is a recipe for unhappiness.
I try to allow every other weekend to be a down weekend. Of course things will come up, but if you reserve time to recover, and time to have adventures you will find a balance. And if something doesn't get done you will have time somewhere else to switch. I also am a firm believer in seeing that your people are struggling on a day plans are made and adjusting if necessary. I know when it comes to purchased tickets for events that isn't possible but I think if you are flexible with all the other things then the things you can't adjust will be o
Don't feel stress or guilt over things that don't happen. No one will even know.