Dear Kid,

You may have noticed a wee bit of sarcasm in yesterday’s blog about New Year’s Resolutions and the best way to go about keeping them. You may also have noticed a wee bit of cynicism the day before when I talked about the resolutions I will never ever even attempt to keep.

To be fair, you might have noticed more than a wee drop. (And, as they say, a little goes a long way.)

So (hang onto your hat, kiddo) I decided to take a moment and write some very real and serious resolutions. No joke.

In 2016, I resolve to

1. Appreciate every moment with the Puppy because I know he won’t be here forever.
2. Make time to spend with friends—even if we do absolutely nothing when we’re together.
3. Wear a piece of good jewelry at least once a month. I love my costume jewelry, but every now and then wearing the real thing makes me feel special.
4. Drink more water and eat less sugar.
5. Schedule “Date Night” at least once a month.
6. Pay more attention to people than to technology.
7. Tell my kids how much I love them and how proud I am of them. Even if they roll their eyes when I tell them.

Love you kiddo. Have a wonderful 2016.

Love, Mom

Dear Kid,

Once upon a time life was easy.

That time was 6 years ago on a Tuesday morning from 8:57am to 8:58am.

Easy didn’t last very long.

Which isn’t to say that life is hard.

We have it pretty good compared to most of the world. We have enough to eat, we have a place to sleep, we have indoor plumbing, and we have NCIS.

But we have plenty of first world problems.

We have restaurants to choose from at lunch, we have multiple flavors of coffee to decide between, we have to learn new phrases like on fleek, we have more jewelry than we can wear at once, and we have The Royals (yes, it’s still awful, and yes, I keep watching).

Once you finish exams this week, you’ll be home. This is FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC for a whole variety of reasons. It also brings us one more first world problem.

Two cars, four drivers, 19 places to go.

Prepare to compromise.

Love, Mom