Your One Word Theme

Most people make up New Year’s Resolutions because of peer pressure or societal influence, without ever really resolving to do anything meaningful or significant. This year, Kiddie Academy crowdsourced a list of New Year’s Resolutions from parents full of inspiration for moms and dads to make 2016 even better than 2015.

If you pledged to one of those really spectacular parenting resolutions, that’s great! If not, don’t feel like you need to make one up just to fit in with the rest of the world. Now that it’s February, and we’re pretty sure January was just a trial month, our first to-do of #29DaysofEssentials is to identify one to five words that define an intention for how you want your year to flow, an overarching theme you can lean into with everything you do all year long, including parenting.

How do you want 2016 to look? Choose anywhere from one to five words to define your annual theme and write them down to remember and commit to the aspiration. Having a word, or a few words, carries a lot less pressure than a mundane resolution you’re not really excited about anyway.

Renew, Educate, Energize, Love, Travel, Free, Rest, Finish, Adventure, Peace, Wellness, Healthy, Balanced, Creative, Forgiving, Joy. There are so many great words to choose from. One word has the power to keep you focused, and whole lot more successful and satisfied with the next 11 months, rather than pretending like this is the year you’re going to start flossing.

“Amazing Starts Here” is Kiddie Academy’s three-word theme for 2016, and the title of our latest creative campaign, celebrating and supporting children as they strive to meet their fullest potential. Amazing Starts Here: exploring the idea that by nurturing each child’s individual potential, we will help to create the next generation of innovative and independent thinkers.