Blog: A Parent's Measure of Success

It’s the time of year for reflection - or one of them, anyhow. June brings with it the end to another school year, transition to summer and perhaps closure of some sorts.  Graduations, awards ceremonies, recitals, little league playoffs all give rise naturally to a kind of review of the year since last September.

Parents are often tempted to convey how much their children have accomplished. Personally, I really do love seeing pictures, videos and posts of these kids feeling proud and having a ball.  No joke – it really makes me happy to see it!

It’s important, though, to also focus on adult accomplishments.  I would like all of us grown-ups to sit back and ask what I have done this year.  How I have improved and made my world a better place.  HAHAHAHA!  No, sillies!  Not YOU guys!  I mean I really want all of YOU to sit back and ponder how I, Aliza Worthington, have improved and what I’ve done!  Because having everyone focus on me is much less self-serving than focusing on the accomplishments of my kids!

Here is a brief year-in-review of my goals and how I fared…

1. Closets cleaned & organized?  Goose egg.
2. Fall leaves raked out of garden?  Not begun until May.  Not finished as of today.
3. Stay on top of household crap?  Let’s just say that last week, when Angie’s List’s “Big Deal” of the week was $99 for 3 hours of help from a professional organizer, I was all over it.  Help comes at the end of June.
4. Lose 3 or 30 pounds?  Well, I did work out with a trainer, and was consistent about exercise!  Yay, me!  And you know what?  I gained weight!  I know, I know - sticklers and scientists might attribute this to my struggles with the four “P”s.  Portion size, Pizza, Pastries and Phrappuccinos.  Whatever.

So as not to appear quite as much the loser, I mean, laid back person…do allow me one brag.  Ready?

This year, I can count on one hand the number of times I had to drop a school lunch off after the kids were in school.  Not once did I miss a 9:30 class at the gym because I was late making the lunches and running around to different schools to drop them off, which was a huge problem for me the year before!  (See above No. 4 for why I did actually miss that 9:30 class…)  Do you know what this means, people????  It means that every kid’s lunch was made, ready and in the backpacks before they left for school each day!  THIS, I tell you, is success.

Bizzare?  Maybe.  Pathetic?  For sure.  But true.  And here is the guide my friend, Ciaran, wrote that I plan to follow, so as to keep up the good work this summer!