Hi Reader,

I mentioned last week that after my New Year's got off to a late start, that I was going to spend the next few weeks reflecting on my own resolutions and how I want to begin shaping my year.

I planned a few weeks of content around the theme of starting the year off intentionally, with thoughts of revisiting it throughout the year and a few freebies to support you in creating rhythms, becoming more mindful, and slowing down.

This week, I intended to write to you about my own resolutions and post something on the blog about resolutions and creating habits.

Oh! Such grand plans! And you know what they say about plans and life...

But, our house flooded.

Nothing major, a small 2 x 3 section of the playroom where our costume, school nap linens, and stuffy baskets live. Basically a 2 foot square of sponges.

Considering the natural disaster devastation we've all seen this winter (and the past few years), I recognize how insignificant this is. An inconvenience, I suppose.

But, an annoying inconvenience.

So, instead of updating a habit tracker to help you with your resolutions, I've been doing laundry. Instead of redesigning my word-of-the year post, I've been wiping down baseboards. Instead of writing a habit building blog post, I've been mopping (well Sweepy Weepy has been mopping).

Through all of this, I came up with my resolution (and one of my words for the year). I still need to fine tune it to be a little more specific, but this year, I will:

Find the positive.

My six year old is easily discouraged. He finds the negative almost immediately. I worry that he gets this trait from his parents. Or maybe it's just being an anxiety-prone, perfectionist six year old. I don't know.

What I do know is that I want to model positivity. Which isn't all that easy for this born pessimist. For my six year old, my three year old, but mostly for myself.

So, our playroom flooded. But, it's given us a few (sort of boring) things. This is a good time to skip ahead 😉:

1. My kids are playing peacefully together as I write this. I pulled out a few toys that they haven't seen in awhile, so they are working diligently to build a train track that takes over our living room. Win!
2. I was forced to wash our rug. It's not back in place yet but I know it's going to look great when it is. We've had it for a few years and I've been wanting to wash it for awhile, but didn't want to move furniture to do it. Well... nature gave me the motivation.
3. The baseboards are destroyed. But I don't like them. So.... when we start construction next month (I hope.... we've been waiting on permits for 7 months. Oh, bureaucracy!) I have a great excuse to replace them!
4. Part of our construction plans involve removing the drywall in the playroom to reinforce that wall. No need to worry about the mold! And I get to repaint. It was the wrong color from the start!
5. I've gone through our costumes, shoe shelf, and a few other baskets and was able to throw away a few things, give away a few others, and repurpose a few more. A forced purge and simplification!
6. I want a French drain in our side yard. My husband had been a little resistant. Now, he sees the value in it and we're adding it to our project!

Perhaps there's a metaphor in all of this. I am yet to find it. But, it is a beautifully sunny January day with the kind of clarity you can only get in Southern California after a rain).

And instead of writing about 2023 intentions and mindfulness, I'll be wrestling with a velcro rug and taking my little ones to the "tiny" zoo.

Next week, I suppose. And if not, I'll work to find the silver lining in whatever hiccup gets in my way.

PS How are you doing on your resolutions? Your word of the year? I'd love to hear them.

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