Friday, January 25, 2008

I Have A Dream

At the start of every new year, our family spends one of our family home evenings reviewing and making goals. We go over our family long term goals, assess how we did the previous year on our family short term goals, and set new short term family goals for the current year depending on what we need to work on. (e.g.- prepare for church on Saturday, etc. Have you ever tried to get six kids dressed and out the door? It takes at least 48 hours.) We put all of the long- and short-term goals on a poster that we put up on the dining room wall where everyone can see it. We then are able to review our progress every few weeks. Those of you who knew me from way back when- aren't you impressed? Who new I had a left half to my brain? Anyway, after discussing the family goals, each member of the family also chooses one personal goal to work on for the year. We hope that it will be something geared toward self-improvement (e.g.- The Pinkiest chose getting up on time in the morning for this year), but sometimes it is a skill we would like to acquire. (Potty-training, shoe-tying, etc.)

This year, Little Mommy(9) chose learning to ice skate as her personal goal which I felt was a stretch and I suspect is just a ploy to get some recreational time without having to earn it by getting her chores done. We let it go because we want to be supportive and not discourage the kids from setting goals for themselves- in spite of the nature of her choice.

We went down the line asking each child what their goal would be for this year. When we got to Mr. Yuke(4), he didn't have one in mind. Husband suggested learning to ride a bike without training wheels. Mr. Yuke(4) jumped up and said breathlessly and with reverence, "Ok. But when I grow up, I want to be-

a baker of chicken burritos."

5 comments:

Sarah said...

First of all - love the artwork to the right. Then, I love the name, hee hee. And the baker of burritos comment, so cute!!

When I asked my son (3) what he wanted to be when he grows up, he looked at me like I was the dumbest Momma on the planet and said, "When I grow up, Momma, I'll be a MAN!"

Not quite the Bradys said...

supersarahann- Ahh. Thanks! I really needed that. And as for the be a man thing- Husband and I laughed out loud long and hard over that one. Thanks for sharing!

Cassadie said...

I love the idea of having family goals. Especially since we never stick to our own personal goals... maybe solidarity will make us have more resolve (or at least come up with more reasonable goals!!).

Kelly said...

Okay..LOVE mr. Yuke! LOL...kids say the darndest things!

Anonymous said...

I'm such a proud auntie. It's good to know the kid (i.e. Mr Yuke) dreams big.
Laughed so hard, I cried. Thanks, I needed that, aberjaber & Yukie.