The end of the calendar year is a time to reflect upon the year behind us and to think about where we are going. Here are 6 ways to bring in the new year with a focus on your family.
1. Start by celebrating with your child. Start celebrating at 12 noon and marking the new year around the globe. Pull out your atlas, globe, or world map and track it with your child, talking about different places in the world, cities you have visited, places you'd like to take your child, stories from your family's past migration around the globe. For older children, try staying up until midnight. And then try sleeping in the next day.
2. Clean and de-clutter. In many cultures around the globe the new year is a time to clean out the old to help prepare for the new. Sit with your child and together create piles of books and toys that you no longer use and can donate to others. Donate clothes that no longer fit and recycle ripped, stained clothes and worn out shoes.
3. Get outside. Make a plan for the upcoming year to get outside with your children and hike, walk, or explore our local history. There is so much to see and do that is low cost, or no cost, that we all should be exploring more often. My list to start the new year includes hiking around Santa Teresa Foothills, Almaden Quicksilver Park, Coyote Creek Trail, and Mt. Madonna.
4.Commit to reduction of single use plastic. The idea of eliminating single use plastic is stressful and overwhelming to me. The negative impact of plastic on our oceans is at a point where I believe that I need to start taking small daily actions. I need to start small, by reducing and eliminating single use plastic one piece at a time.
5. Plan out Meatless Mondays and Viernes Veganos (that's vegan Fridays, but it sounds better with the alliteration in Spanish, jaja). I try to think about these, but when the days of the week come around, if I don't have a plan, it's easy to eat anything that's presented. I guess for me this also includes being more intentional with all of my meal planning to bring my family to health.
6. Re-commit to language intentions, discuss and adopt these intentions as a family. It's easy to slip into more and more English. Talk as a family about why you are bilingual, why you want to be bilingual, and its many benefits. Make a plan for speaking, reading, and living in the languages. The challenge for many of us, "How can I include more fun, Spanish dominant activities to my children so they can have more positive associations with the language and culture?" For some families, this may be easy. But, it's not easy for me. English permeates life here. I'm thinking we are ready to get into some chapter books in Spanish. They received a couple of interesting ones for Christmas, so I'll start small by committing to reading a chapter book with each child.
5. Plan out Meatless Mondays and Viernes Veganos (that's vegan Fridays, but it sounds better with the alliteration in Spanish, jaja). I try to think about these, but when the days of the week come around, if I don't have a plan, it's easy to eat anything that's presented. I guess for me this also includes being more intentional with all of my meal planning to bring my family to health.
6. Re-commit to language intentions, discuss and adopt these intentions as a family. It's easy to slip into more and more English. Talk as a family about why you are bilingual, why you want to be bilingual, and its many benefits. Make a plan for speaking, reading, and living in the languages. The challenge for many of us, "How can I include more fun, Spanish dominant activities to my children so they can have more positive associations with the language and culture?" For some families, this may be easy. But, it's not easy for me. English permeates life here. I'm thinking we are ready to get into some chapter books in Spanish. They received a couple of interesting ones for Christmas, so I'll start small by committing to reading a chapter book with each child.
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