I’m reading the best book. It’s all about how time is our most precious resource, and that we should not only pinpoint what specifically brings us joy, but also curate weeks filled with those things. And I feel like I love doing that already, but this book is full of practical advice, tangible takeaways, and new perspectives, that even I’m over here feeling newly inspired.
Armed with a fresh list of new things that I love, I decided to turn them into some fun goals for this school year - goals to prioritize joy and magic amongst my day-to-day.
Here they are!
1) take a weekly yoga class
y’all know I love my quiet morning dog walks. and my goooood, mind-clearing swims. and my beloved Fit4Mom Barre classes with my friends. but back in the day, I loved a yin-style yoga class - the kind of class that’s basically one long stretch - and I miss that kind of class terribly. so my big fun goal this year is to do one class a week.
I’ve already found a yin-style yoga class at my gym Friday morning while KK is at preschool that would be ideal. but during the weeks that life happens (aka toddler sickness), I also made a list of ones on Youtube I could stream at home. I’m so excited for this goal.
related: here’s why we love a gym with childcare in this season.
2) leave my house Thursday nights
don’t laugh. this one requires a backstory - y’all know Memaw Haley isn’t a Night Owl.
i love my three best friends dearly - we all met through Fit4Mom, we all live near each other, we all click really well, and we’re all in similar seasons of life with our young children. we eat dinner every Monday night together with our husbands and kids (read more about Monday Framily Dinner here), we have a standing playdate every Wednesday afternoon. they are my lifeline. and we recently asked ourselves: “Could we gather at someone’s house after we put the kids to bed, say, every other Thursday night, maybe? we could just hang in our pajamas and talk? without toddlers?” yes, yes, yes.
and this book is huge on teaching the direct correlation between happiness and investing in time with loved ones, that “having strong, authentic connections is essential to well-being.” so prioritizing that additional uninterrupted time to further nurture my friendships is a huge goal of mine this year. I can’t wait.
additionally, my word for 2023 is community - here’s a list of the things I’m doing this year and why it’s been the most fulfilling year.
and then I thought, hey. there’s a yin-style yoga class at my gym every Thursday night - why don’t I go to that the Thursdays I don’t get together with my friends? which means some weeks I may have the potential to get two yoga classes in, as well as additional friend time - wonderful!
and then it occurred to me - Date Nights on Fridays aren’t working. Brett does a hardddd workout on Fridays, so come 7pm, he’s done, he’s tired. so we stopped doing Date Nights. but now I’m wondering if we could do them on Thursdays. hence the general goal of “leaving my house on Thursdays.”
3) bake one thing each week
remember how I used to bake one thing a week for Brett, and it was one of the best things for our marriage? (read why here.) I miss that weekly ritual. it was one of my favorite ways to show brett love, it was one of my favorite ways to celebrate the seasons, and it was one of my favorite ways to prioritize something that brought me a lot of joy.
and i want my kids to grow up and know that their mom loved her daily life, but she also loved holidays, traditions, and birthdays. I want them to remember that I loved being in the kitchen, that I loved loving on their daddy, that I loved finding small ways to celebrate, that I loved baking special treats (and that I loved giving extras to loved ones).
and because life is short. and i want mine peppered with joyful rituals and intentional celebrations. and a fun goal of bringing back a beloved baking ritual does just that.
related: I love how one brilliant mom turns her weekly baking into a Friday Cookie Chat Tradition. and one mom I love does a weekly tea and etiquette ritual. so many possibilities here for when we’re craving additional magic.
4) and plan something fun for every Saturday
you may remember in my popular post “10 Things I Did for a Great Summer” that I planned a Family Adventure for every single Saturday for this past summer. it was a lot of work up front, but gosh did we reap the benefits all summer long. I loved that it was all decided ahead of time, I loved that we explored local gems that we otherwise may not have seen, I loved that we invited loved ones to join us, I loved it all. in fact, two of my favorite memories this summer involve sitting in local watering holes with Brett’s family - something that otherwise wouldn’t have happened had I not planned ahead.
I’d like to do this again this school year.
let’s back up. let’s acknowledge all the behind-scenes-work that goes into this (and to acknowledge if you don’t have the current capacity to do this, that’s more than okay):
I decided Saturdays were for Family Adventures
When making our weekly rhythm, we decided Saturday mornings were for Family Adventures. Which may sound pretty insignificant, but for us this was huge - assigning Family Time and Exploring our City and Going on Adventures to a very specific day and time each week is really what helped us prioritize that to be a big part of our life.
We’re very fortunate that both sets of family live near us, so we love to invite them along on our Saturday Adventures. Whether that be lunch at someone’s house, trying a new-to-us restaurant with a playscape, going to a cousin’s soccer game, exploring a state park, visiting the local nature center, checking out a nearby festival, or meeting at a local watering hole. it all counts. And this is not only how we make sure we’re exploring our area and spending plenty of time with loved ones, but it’s also how we easily split time between the two families.
Do other things on Saturday mornings sometimes pop up? Absolutely. But like I mentioned earlier, we’re very careful and particular about what invitations we accept since we know it takes away from Family Adventures. and we aren’t in a season of weekend sports/activities (and we purposely haven’t signed KK up for any activities, similar to the reasons Busy Toddler has), so blocking off Saturday Morning for Family Adventures works really, really well for us.
I’ll pick adventures ahead of time
Because we learned we do better when we over plan and edit as needed, instead of flying by the seat of our pants and hoping for the best. So one of my monthly routines is to tentatively plan Family Adventures for the next month or two.
(And if plans change for whatever reason - the weather doesn’t cooperate, someone gets sick, etc - no big deal! we pivot and do something else. but I’m always so thankful to have potential Family Adventure Plans in place in case we need them.)
Of course, when planning ahead of time, I take into account some of our traditions and this helps planning Weekend Adventures tremendously. I use my Yearly Tasks + Expenses list to help me remember annual traditions. Here’s a full list of our traditions, too.
Another list that really helps me is my Local Places List - a place that I write down places we’d love to try: Weekend Adventure places, Toddler places, Annual Festivals, Restaurants with Playscapes, Date Night places, etc. Anytime I hear of a rec or see a great reel on Instagram, I add it to my list. And I reference the list whenever I’m planning adventures.
But I’ll leave some Saturdays open for House Day Saturdays
Because sometimes, we need a Saturday to hang around, work on house stuff, and rest. So we made an unofficial rule: anytime our beloved library has a craft day or fun event on a Saturday, we will attend. And then after a trip to the library, we spend the rest of the day slowing down, tackling house things, and being together. See more about House Day Saturdays - and what we do to make them special - here!
And because let’s be real: special library visits and seasonal house projects count as Family Adventures, too. Especially with the special treats we do on House Day Saturdays.
One of my favorite books is big on associating happiness with many key factors, one of which is prioritizing quality time with loved ones. So we love our Saturday Adventures.
Happy school year, y’all. May your weeks be sprinkled with joy and magic, however that looks for you in this season. (And grab this book - or reserve it at the library - while you’re at it. I can’t recommend it enough.) xo
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