It's the beginning of a new month and that means a new Monthly Family Goals printable for you!
I'm so excited that May is here! April was pretty disappointing weather-wise around here and didn't feel much like spring. But it's a new month which gives me hope for warmer temperatures!
May Family Goals printable
Click this link to see how we use our monthly family goals sheet. And stay tuned each month as I share a new printable so you can also set monthly goals in your family.
If you'd like to print ahead for the whole year, you can find all the monthly goals printable sheets in the Printables tab at the top of this page.
Here's the printable for May:
I really hope this printable helps you achieve your goals this month in your family!
Achieving Balance in 2014
In January I shared my word for the year: balance. I've continued working towards this through the month of April. I've been working this year on establishing new habits one at a time, instead of starting several at once. So far it's going well!
- In January, I worked on utilizing short amounts of time better
- In February, my new habit was planning our dinners for the week every Sunday
- In March I started drinking a 16 oz glass of water at least 4-5 times per day
I still kept working on these previous habits (especially the water!) through April and I added a new habit of eating more fruits and vegetables. I definitely was more intentional about eating them than before, but I need to work on this more to fully establish it as a new habit.
I'm going to keep working on drinking water and eating fruit and vegetables in May. I don't want to start another new habit until both of these are firmly in place. I will record my glasses of water and my fruit and vegetable consumption on my menu planning pad on the fridge so I can track my progress and remind myself to stick with this goal.
As a family, we're continuing to work on being more grateful, my son is working on being more generous, and my daughter is working on being more peaceful. These were words we picked for the year and when we set goals each month at our family meeting, we're thinking of ways we can achieve them.
My daughter had some less-than-peaceful moments this month but the last few weeks have been much better. She reacts so much when my son teases her but she's learning some better ways to react. My son tried to work on his generosity this month when we were all donating items to a charity drive at our church. But he really has a hard time letting go of things. He did part with some of his books, but they all ended up on my daughter's shelves. It's progress for him though. Thankfully she donated a LOT of her picture books and easy readers that she's outgrowing, so she had space for them. As we were all purging items, we focused on being grateful for everything we have and that we have more than we need.
If you've never set family goals, this month is a brand new opportunity to set some! Have a family meeting and discuss what you'd like to accomplish this month and write down your ideas on this printable. It's a great way to help you live more intentionally!
A Quick Look Back at April on the Blog
April saw lots of people join the 365 Items in 365 Days Declutter Challenge. Maybe it's part of spring cleaning or a renewing of new year's resolutions to declutter, but I'm adding new members to our Facebook group every day! I love all the interaction and encouragement in this group. I'm going to start a new series in June featuring the progress of people participating in the challenge.
My kitchen organizing tips series finally concluded in April! I love how much bigger my kitchen feels now that it's less cluttered and more organized.
And the month wound up with two of my tips being featured in Daily Parent's article on toy organizing tips.
If you've missed any posts last month, you can read all the April posts here.
Last month, I set 3 goals for the blog. And I'm happy to say I'm back on track and achieved all of them!
- I finished organizing my kitchen and the kitchen organizing tips series
- I updated my progress in the 365 Items in 365 Days Challenge and I shared 5 More Ways Your Clutter Costs You
- I wrote 3 Organizing Ideas for the Weekend posts (I actually beat my goal of 2!)
What's Coming Up In May On The Blog?
This month will mark the 2 year anniversary of this blog! I'll be celebrating by flashing back to some of the most popular posts of the past year. Plus, I'll have a giveaway so you can celebrate with me!
Aside from that, May is going to be a bit of a different month for the blog (and early June too). I mentioned earlier this week that my hubby is going away for 12 days so I'll be busier than normal taking care of the kids and the house without him (check out how I'm getting organized for while he's away if you haven't yet).
And a few days after he comes back we're leaving for a family vacation for 2 weeks. And we're planning to spend less time attached to our devices than we have on previous vacations. So I'm working ahead on blog posts for while we're gone (I'm planning to share lots of packing and traveling tips since that's what's going on around here!).
But I'm also really excited to have some blogging friends guest posting this month! Once per week I'll be sharing a post that one of my organizing blogger friends wrote specifically for this blog. They have some great organizing and decluttering tips that I know you're going to love. And I know you'll make them feel welcome here :)
Here are my goals for May:
- Write 3 posts on being organized for traveling
- Update my progress in the 365 Items in 365 Days challenge
- Write at least 2 Organizing Ideas for the Weekend posts
- Celebrate my 2 year blogiversary with flashback posts and a giveaway
It's going to be a fun month both personally and on the blog!
So, what are your family, personal, or blog goals for May? How are your 2014 goals coming along? Where are you going on your next vacation? Any traveling tips to share with me?
Happy organizing!
