I think I saw my first “New Year’s goals” ad sometime around Halloween. I’m pretty sure I hadn’t even taken my first bite of 2023 holiday food when marketers started trying to convince me I’d need to burn it all off in 2024. And I was definitely knee-deep in holiday decorations, ribbons, and gift wrap while I was swiping past messages telling me how to improve my household organization in the New Year. “New Year, New You” sentiments were coming fast and furious while I was still trying to figure out the old year, old me.
Each January, we’re apparently supposed to put in the hard work to reinvent ourselves. But after a hectic back-to-school season filled with pressure to get everything just right for the “best school year ever,” followed closely by the “festive fall” motifs convincing us to make memories in apple orchards and pumpkin patches, an ever-expanding and more elaborate “spooky season” when we’re encouraged to decorate and make ghoulish treats and over-the-top costumes, and then the 2-month holiday season overload…enough already. Can’t January be a different kind of reset?
What if, instead of trying to set New Year’s goals and make resolutions, we turned the page to 2024, set aside all the festivities, and decided to be at peace just as we are this year? We can dig out our homes and calendars from the seasonal avalanche, put away the beloved family holiday recipes, and get back to the business of just being ourselves. Maybe it’s not exciting or glamorous, but there’s something about returning to routines that can feel satisfying and grounding after a long season of excess.
So this January, our message to you is: New Year, Same You. Return to your perfectly imperfect dinner tables, make your predictable and time-tested weeknight recipes, get back to your pizza deliveries on Friday nights or your Sunday morning donuts. Let your family meals be simple. Do the best you can. And if you must make a resolution this year, let it be this: “I resolve to do less, laugh more, and be okay with good enough.”
In that spirit, we’re kicking off 2024 by sharing our favorite resources from the past year. Here’s to being our same old selves this New Year!
- Our interview with eating disorder experts Oona Hanson and Dr. Jennifer Goetz is packed with important information for parents. If you’re hoping to make a single, impactful change at family dinner this year, it’s a must-read!
- These conversation starters to help you talk to your kids about social media are a handy resource for tough tech issues.
- Our Grocery Scavenger Hunt for teens is a great way to help build shopping, budgeting, and life skills this year.
- These 100 alternative questions to “How Was Your Day?” can help liven up your same-old, same-old dinner routine with new conversations in 2024.
- And our new podcast will be back this winter, with episodes on topics like sharing the dinner responsibilities in your household, untangling the differences between picky eating and more serious feeding challenges, and how to manage mealtimes during the most stressful times of year. Stay tuned!
Food
Photo: Seonkyoung Longest
Nothing says low-stress quite like 5 minute fried rice!
Fun
We’re keeping it classic this New Year with an old favorite: Charades.
Conversation
These conversation starters can help you embrace the “same old you” by reminding you of what’s great about who you already are!
