I’m not much of a ‘new year resolution’ type of person. I just never really felt the difference between December 31st and January 1st. But there are definitely some goals that I want to achieve this year. Some of the things on the list are things that I’ve been working on and things that I’ve been struggling with. Things that have been on the list for years but never put the effort towards them. So here are the top 10 things I’d love to accomplish this year.
- Transition Besma into sleeping in her room
Besma is 2 years old and still sleeps in the same bed with us. It worked for us when she was younger because I exclusively breastfeed and it was easier to just have her next to me. I actually just recently weaned her right around when she turned 2 back in September. Now, she’s really comfortable with us and it’s really all she knows. I can’t wait for this transition to happen already. With her pushing and kicking and just taking up so much space, I’m not able to sleep comfortably. Also with a new baby coming in April, it would be even harder to have both babies sleeping in our room. I’m also terrified because I don’t know how she’s going to react. What if she wakes up during the night and she’s all alone? What if she gets nightmares? But it’s something every kid eventually has to go through. She does take her day time naps in her own room, so I think that’ll help her feel more comfortable once we start the transition. I will probably buy some kind of nightlight or a projector for the ceiling to help her feel more comfortable. I’d love some advice from those who’ve already been through this. Any advice would be helpful! My goal is to have her fully transitioned before the baby comes in April.
- Potty train Besma
Another Besma related goal that I need accomplished before baby boy arrives. I do not want to be changing diapers for two kids. Just no. Also I think she’s ready for potty training. I attempted to train her a couple of months ago and it was a complete disaster. So I decided to take a break and give her a bit more time. What is making this even harder for me is that my apartment is 90% carpet. It would be a lot less frustrating for both of us if we had tile or wooden floors. Nonetheless, I know it’s possible and it’s definitely something that I will be working on. Any advice would be so appreciated!
- Deliver a happy and healthy baby
Not sure if this is really considered a goal, but having a baby is such a big deal so I feel like it would make sense to include this. I’m due in April and I haven’t really prepared for his arrival. I have most of the necessities though besides the clothes. Please keep me in your thoughts and Duaa’s and pray that I have a smooth delivery to a healthy baby ️ the most thing I’m excited about is Besma finally seeing her baby brother. We talk about him every day but I’m not sure she full understands what is going on. Its going to be the cutest thing ever to see her become a big sister.
- Lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle
Weight is something I’ve struggled with for years. I’ve been up and down, and I really want this year to be the year that changes the rest of my life. The best shape of my life was when I was engaged a few years ago. I was so motivated to lose weight for my wedding and I succeeded. But I wasn’t consistent after I got married and that’s the same mistake that I keep making. I want to feel good and just be healthy. I started Keto and working out earlier this year and was consistent for a few months. I saw awesome results. Then I got pregnant and just completely stopped everything. Once I get the green light to workout after I have this baby, it’s going down. I do try to take walks and stretch now, but it’s nothing rigorous. As for diet, I’m not sure if Keto is something I want to do again. At the end of the day if I’m eating my greens, wholesome foods, grains and no junk, I’d be okay with that. 2019 will be my transformation year inshallah!
- Speak more Arabic
I mentioned this in a different blog post and its more of a long term goal. Speaking Arabic is something I really want to achieve as a family. It’s so hard for me to teach Besma because my Arabic speaking skills suck. It’s like I just accepted the fact that I suck at it and gave up instead of actively working to do better. Besma is a smart girl and I know she’ll be able to pick up on it. I just need to push myself and my husband more to actually start speaking it in the house.
- Watch TV less and find more efficient ways to spend our time
We all do it. Sometimes it’s because we just want to pass the time, which is understandable. But I can’t help but feel guilty sometimes when I let my daughter watch tv. Especially on boring days where the tv ends up being on all day. We don’t sit there and watch the entire time but it’s there. I want to work on finding better ways to fill our days. Unfortunately where we live, there aren’t any decent parks close by. It’s really annoying actually because I know if we had a nice park, we would be there all the time. There aren’t many toddler friendly activities in general where I live, which is really odd. We do go to the library a lot or just walk around the apartment neighborhood. I was thinking about dedicating a space the in house to arts and crafts. Besma loves to color and get messy so I thought it would be a cute idea for her. It will be a challenge to actually make space for that in our apartment.
- Gaining more Islamic knowledge
I feel like this one has been on my list for years and I never actively worked towards it. Yeah, I’ll watch a video or read an article here or there but it’s not enough. My husband is always learning and watching lectures so I know he’d 100% help me with this goal. Learning more Quran is something we both want so I think it’s something we should start doing together. As for Besma, I’m not really sure when is the appropriate age to teach her who God is. I don’t think she’ll understand at this age. She does see me make wudu and pray and it’s the cutest thing ever to watch her copy. At the end of the day, we should be making sure that we are working for our afterlife just as hard, if not harder, as we are for this life.
- Be more present
It’s so flipping easy to get sucked into our phones and completely forget about the world around us. I want to make an effort to use my phone less and really be there in the moment. Be in the moment when I’m coloring with Besma or when we’re just sitting together as a family. Social media can be a disease if you don’t know how to control yourself.
- Move into a house
I’m hoping that we’ll be able to move into a house sometime this year. It’s not really possible for us right now but I hope that’s something that will happen in the near future God-willing. Apartments suck, especially if you have kids. From the noisy neighbors, to limited storage and counter space, to hauling in groceries with a toddler to your second floor apartment (recently discovered grocery delivery yas). It’ll just be so much nicer to be in our own space with a backyard, and room to move around.
- Be more consistent with my blog
I’ve had this blog for a little less than 3 months now, but I haven’t been as active as I thought I would be. I really want to up my blogging game and start putting out posts once a week. I think it’s something I can definitely achieve with a bit of time management and planning. Give me some blog post ideas if you have any!
Those are my main goals that I’d love to accomplish this year. A lot of them are more of a long term type of goal, but I hope to get the process started and going. I’d love to hear what types of goals you all have! Wishing you all the success and growth in this upcoming year.