A new year.. A new beginning

2015 has not been a very active year on my blog, and I've really missed blogging regularly. What started as a parenting memoir has grown organically in so many ways and I am humbled when someone unexpectedly mentions to me that they read my posts and enjoyed a particular one. I also still get ragged occasionally for my A-Z attempt during our US holiday ;).

What finally prompted this last post for the year? For the record, it is not a "wrap up" post (do I hear some Phews ;)). It is going to be, though, a post of resolutions, of a new adventure and what I want to achieve in 2016. The last week of the year saw us moving to Singapore, after 17+ years in Bangalore. There were many reasons for the actual decision, but here are the ways in which I want to make my/our lives different in this all-new year:

More fun: The biggest advantage of living in a city with a great public transport system is that we have no excuse for not getting around. So I want us to experience more events, plays & movies, more running around, more enrichment and more of everything that's fun. As of today, we just became members in the local public library (I know this is passé' for U.S. folks, but I was as wide-eyed as the kids) and I am really looking forward to regular visits there as well.

More travel: I know many of my friends are experts at planning quick holidays, but I have always stuck to the planned-much-in-advance and usually a week's worth type of getaway. With a lot of long weekends to look forward to in 2016, I hope we'll be able to explore this part of the world with some quick and short trips.

More work: Another big life change that I am quite looking forward to is to go back to full-time work. I have enjoyed writing as a flexible career space, but I am now hoping to make a foray back into the big bad world of tech (if it'll have me!). As moving to a different country is such a huge step anyway, it felt like the right time to jump right into another change of pace as well. I know I have some challenges ahead and not everyone on the other side of the table will have faith in my capability, but I will be patient and wait for the right match, so fingers crossed :).

More blogging: As the kids grow (D is 10, and S is 7), the challenges are different. Dealing with daily doses of defiance do not a blog post inspire, but I need to look past the minor irritations and find those lovely positives too! Memories for today: D is apparently old enough to make a list of new year resolutions, and S thinks he doesn't need school anymore as he "knows so much Math already" ;).

More photos: After buying a good phone this year mainly for the purpose of using it as a camera, I have not really put it to use except when on holiday :P. That needs to change!

Those seem like quite enough resolutions to get on with, so let me stop with writing any "more" and wish you a:

Dilemmas of an Imperfect Mom

With slowing down on my blogging in the latter part of the year, I suddenly realized I positively MUST sneak in a last one before the year ends :).

It seems nowadays that life is full of wishes like these. I:

- Hope that my 6 year old goes to sleep everyday by 8:30 pm, but that means I have to get dinner on the table by 7:30 at least (Which is seriously only possible about 50% of the time)

- Get exasperated because the kids don't tell me about their school homework on time, but hope to avoid checking their diaries every day - ONLY because they would never get independent, NOT because it's more work for me :P.

- Want to have healthy snacks available at home all the time, but that means I need to plan and make them ;). If anyone wants to supply some regularly, I'm open to the idea!

- Love the idea of elaborate and healthy breakfasts but I have a ton of excuses including (1) am too disorganized (2) hate to wake up early.

- Would LOVE to see the house spic and span but it feels like too much work to oversee someone doing the cleaning. End result: Do it myself? Hmmm, still tussling on this one.

- Want the kids to have opportunities to learn lots of skills before their school work gets too demanding, but find it positively painful to have to keep reminding them to practice :D. Plus some days the time taken to get them to their classes and back just gets to me.

- HATE to cook, but the kind of not-so-healthy meals turned out by a cook (not to mention the tension of coordinating with someone) are also a bit of a no-no.

- Want to set a good example to the kids where fitness is concerned, but find it challenging to stick to a schedule without getting distracted or bored along the way. Getting better at this, but still a long way to to.

Here's to more dilemmas in 2015, and hopefully solving a few of them as well :). In that context, If you, like me, have a strange sense of wanting to change "something", do try reading "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin - I don't read much non-fiction but this one just has me nodding along. Happy New Year to All!!