Setting a New Year's resolution with your child

2023 has come to an end and what a year it was!

The last year stood out for many reasons - the corronation of King Charles III, the continued growth and development of AI, and the Barbenheimer double bill in the cinemas.

We sadly said farewell to a number of icons this year: Sinead O'Connor, Paul O'Grady, Matthew Perry and others.

Looking forward to 2024, many of us will be starting the New Year with a set of New Year's resolutions, challenges to ourselves to make the year both more prosperous and meaningful.

Creating New Year's resolutions can be a fun family activity with many benefits, but when creating goals, it's important to be realistic and choose resolutions that you'll be able to keep.

Here are some tips for setting a New Year's resolution with your child:
 

• Make sure your resolutions are SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely

The benefit of setting a SMART resolution is that it will be challenging, it will allow for progress and success to be measured and, most importantly, it will be something with a chance of success.
 

• Consider a shared family New Year's resolution 

Keeping to a resolution is going to be a challenge, but when working together, you can guide and support one another to help each other stay focused.

And if your child sees you working hard to keep to your resolution, this will inspire them to follow your example and do the same!
 

• Let your children take the lead

Have an open discussion with your child about their interests and aspirations to come up with a resolution together that is will appeal to them.

Perhaps their resolution could be to develop a skill which will help them attain a greater goal in the future, or it may simply be to start a new hobby that they are keen to learn about.


Most importantly, New Years resolutions need to be something you can stick to and sustain. Good luck keeping to yours in 2024!