New Year Resolution

Academic year is somehow more significant than a calendar year. It brings new classes, new teachers, and sometimes new schools. It is a time of change and an opportunity to re-evaluate the last year and to implement any new resolutions.

Summer of last year was great and I would not call for any changes there. Some of the family achievements during summer:

• Patidev learnt to swim (can get from point A to point B).
• B1 learnt to swim (in full style, including all strokes, under-water, diving, etc.)
• B1 learnt to roller blade.
• B2 learnt to embroider (stem stitch and chain stitch).
• B2 learnt to write cursive.
• Alice learnt to hula hoop.

Some things we did not quite learn this summer, though we tried:

• Patidev is still learning to breathe properly while swimming.
• B2 is still mustering the confidence to bike without training wheels and float without a kickboard/support
• Alice is still learning to make time for excercise.

The academic year, however, could be improved upon.

Observation 1: We did not get to know the teachers or parents at B1's new school. We are just not as involved as we used to be and had no prior relationships to rely on.

Resolution 1: Get more involved in B1's new school. Specifically,

• volunteer for story reading and potentially other school activities
• pick up from class once a week
• read the Friday folder on Friday
• get to know more parents

Observation 2: B1 enjoys sports and all physical activity, but most of what she gets is swimming, biking, cartwheeling and other individual sports. Team sports have a short shelf life. You cannot start playing those games later in life, and most of the times, you cannot continue playing those games later in life.

Resolution 2: Give importance to team sports for B1 and B2. Specifically, Patidev plans to

• get them into basketball and soccer classes (long overdue for B1 - but she is athletic and learns quickly)
• take them out to shoot hoops more often.

Observation 3: I was working at any and all hours, especially due to a large virtual India team that I rely on.

Resolution 3: Focus on work life balance (Patidev seems to be heading to work-life imbalance, just as I make this resolution. Oh well!)

• Keep specific times for exercise, family, and kids that are untouchable
• Device better metrics for team performance at work (to help with better quality control during delegation). This is to reduce the need for constant night and morning meetings with India teams.