Tuesday Tradition #27

It's hard to believe another summer is coming to a close. School is starting for us next week and with that comes a little relief, but also a tinge of anxiety. As a mother of a first-year high school student, middle school student, and kindergartner, my mom instincts of protection and worry are starting to kick in full gear.

I truly believe I'm raising children that are strong and independent, but I want even more for them. I want them to be happy with themselves when the next school comes to a close in 9 months. I want them to have NO regrets, but make good choices and love the consequences that come with them. Yes, I'd love to completely control them, but I know that's not possible and what the heck would that do for them anyway?

I thought that it might help them if they actually had a plan and some goals made specifically for the next 9 months. What do they want to learn this year? What achievements in sports are they willing to work for? What grades to they expect to get? How much time are they willing to put into getting those grades? What clubs and groups would they like to join? How many books do yo plan to read?....and so on and so on.

Tonight as a family we're going to sit down and let them write themselves a letter. Telling themselves what they except to have accomplished and achieved by the end of the school year. Set some goals and then tuck it away in an envelope. I going to let them have these at the end of the school year so they can see if they followed their plan, stuck it out, disciplined themselves to accomplish what they expected before school year had started.

I'm hoping that this "letter-to-self" will give them some accountability and help them remember to stay the course and not settle for anything! I can't wait to see what their plans are and what they expect of themselves. I'll report back next week and give you a full review of their goals and expectations. Until then....deep breath and bracing myself for a wild year!