Happy New Year!

As the start of a new year begins I am once again reminded about the successes of a year gone by and the successes to come!  The start of a new year sometimes brings with it the stress of the holidays recently passed.  This rather hectic and even stressful time of the year impacts us in ways that sometimes we aren't aware.  For instance, with the kids not being in school, or if you have not had a regular work schedule over the last few weeks it is easy to get out of the normal routine.  Perhaps you have let bedtimes or meals slip.  Afterall, the family deserves a couple of weeks to let go of the routines since its the holidays, right?  Fast forward to after the holidays, later bedtimes, fewer responsibilities, new toys, more sweets being ingested and in a short period of time you now have a new child with less capacity for rules and expectations than you did a couple of weeks ago.

This is certainly normal for many households this time of the year.  Have your kids changed that much over the last two weeks or have the routines, foods and toys changed?  As school begins again, remember about what has changed at the house and remember to get back to back to basics....

Routine  (regular bed, meal and homework times)

Structure  (reasonable expectations of chores and responsibilities, including cleaning up after self)

Healthy Eating  (fruits and vegetables, and don't forget that foods with protein are good for regulating mood, including eggs, milk, cheese, pork and peanut butter)

Quiet Time (a.k.a. reading time)

Getting outside to exercise!

Remember these ideas to help curb stress and getting you and your family back on track for a successful start to the new year!