My Word of the Year: Grace

green skinny jeans winter preppy style j.crew pink gingham

We are halfway through January, already, and yet I am JUST now writing down my New Year’s resolution! I know I said that this post would be up last Wednesday, but hey grace, amiright??

But I’m getting ahead of myself, just a bit, so let’s back up to what this post is all about…

New Year’s Resolutions…or not

I am pretty terrible at keeping New Year’s resolutions–typically because I am terrible at making them. I don’t start thinking about them until after the first of the year, and usually the goals are either too lofty (like, lose 10lb. by next week), or I take the easy way out and come up with goals that are easily completed within a month–and where is the challenge in that? (I will say that last year’s resolution was the first time I managed to make and keep one all year!)

Re-reading last year’s resolution got me to thinking about how I would approach making this year’s resolution; instead of making a list of things that I hoped to accomplish or change about myself, and invariably fail, I have decided to choose one word for me to focus on. One word to ponder as I go about my day, throughout 2019.

I’m sure you have heard of the One Word movement, My One Word, etc. (many different names and programs, but all boil down to the same concept), and I love Kimberly‘s tips for how to choose your word and how to visualize it for the year! I especially love her idea of choosing a monthly inspirational quote that go along with the word, and posting one on my calendar.

My Word of the Year: Grace

So, what is my word of the year? This last year, becoming a mother of two and moving into and setting up a home added A LOT to my plate, and for the most part, I’d like to think I have gotten into a pretty good groove! Some days, I get us out of the house with little to no tantrums, grocery shop for the week, get home for lunch and naps, make dinner, clean up and go to bed with smiles by 9pm! Aaaand other days, Lilly has thrown three temper tantrums by 9:30am, I have changed my shirt twice (#momlife), and we end up being late to an appointment because I spent 10 minutes wrestling a screaming toddler into her carseat.

It’s really easy to focus on the days that are less than stellar, and let that be the measuring stick for how I see myself as a mother and as a person–why is it, that I can have days where it’s all sunshine, rainbows, and unicorn farts, and other days when I am literally pulling toothbrushes out of the toaster and trying to keep Lilly from “helping” change Rosie’s diaper? What happened to the young teacher who could capture the attention of a class of twenty-nine 5-year-olds and get them to not only form a straight line, but to stand quietly??

That’s where my word of the year comes in: grace. There are a handful of definitions for the word grace, but I liked the 4th definition that popped up from Dictionary Google, as well as from Webster’s Dictionary:

a period officially allowed for payment of a sum due or for compliance with a law or condition, especially an extended period granted as a special favor.
Google

disposition to or an act or instance of kindness, courtesy, or clemencye: a temporary exemption : REPRIEVE
Webster’s Dictionary

Extended period. Special favor. Clemency. REPRIEVE.

Giving myself an extended time to get use to being a new mother of two. Setting up a new home. Knowing that this phase in my life isn’t forever, but just that; a phase. That it’s OK that I don’t always have my ducks in a row, and that there will be days when I check EVERYTHING off my to-do list as well as days when I (almost) set my bra on fire. <–true story!!!

I have a Type A Personality, so letting myself off the hook is not an easy thing for me to do. When I make mistakes, I mull them over in the back of my mind, constantly berating myself over what I did wrong, what I could have done better, “why did I do xyz instead of abc?” Instead of just learning from it and moving on, I am afraid that if I move on, it will happen again and again.

But dwelling on mistakes won’t prevent mistakes from happening. Stuff happens. Life happens. And I might as well give myself permission to allow life to happen, understanding that this is still a learning phase for me, and that I will have more good days than bad. The bad days are not a reflection on how good of a wife/mother/person I am. They are simply chances for me to learn from my mistakes, note what I will do differently next time, and move. on.

Grace.

What Does That Look Like:

So what does giving myself grace look like? As much as I would love to jump back into blogging and posting outfits on Instagram, I need to allow myself time to get use to my new normal. Celebrate the fact that I got a post up, and not dwell on the fact that it was only one post. Celebrate that I am able to fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes, and not on the fact that I still have a little extra softness around my middle (I am only less than three months postpartum, after-all!!).

Grace, grace, grace.

I need to give myself grace when I check just one item off my to-do list–heck, if I check NOTHING off my list.

Grace for when I get the laundry washed, dried, and folded but not put away.

Grace for when I lose my patience with my toddler…and grace for my toddler.

And while I’m at it, extending grace to everyone around me, because they are going through life, too.