We’re settling into life here now – I’ve joined an orchestra, started doing yoga & go to church every now and again (that’s another reason to improve the Dutch). Rocket boy has started school & starry girl is about to start preschool, which means we are in the middle of a big upheaval in our weekly routine which should settle down, hopefully, in the next few weeks.

Looking back to last year my main goals were

  • talk in Dutch;
  • write;
  • be present;
  • reply.

Overall I think I’ve done quite well on these, apart from the writing. My Dutch is much improved, although I’m still working on it. Chatting on the schoolyard with the other parents can be a strain! But then I’ve always found small talk difficult and it’s doubly so in another language. I am trying to talk in Dutch and only fall back on English if I get really stuck, so most of my conversations in shops etc are in Dutch. I even talk to the children in Dutch sometimes, as they listen and reply to me then 🙂

I’ve tried really hard to reply to messages I receive and I think I’ve suceeded on this most of the time (though Jo I know you waited a long long time for it!). I still need to keep up on this though.

Being present is something I continue to struggle with at times as there is so much going on that it can be too easy to step back and let things go on without me in a way. So for this year I think that I want to focus on connecting to the people I care about. Ensuring that I give them my undivided attention at times and smile more. To choose to be positive and see the best in things and then stop worrying so much. The yoga is helping with this too. I will now have time during the week with each child on their own so I really want to use this time positively and actively to do something we will both enjoy.

We’ve done all of big things we wanted to do in the house – the new wet room in the basement works really well and I don’t know how we did without it. There’s still a list of things we’d like to do, but just annoying little things that we must make time to sort out this year. And the garden really needs more work this year too.

I haven’t done anywhere near as much writing as I’d like, so this is something I really want to focus on for 2016. Especially as I will be getting a little time to myself during the week. Though for various reasons it’s not going to be as much as I had thought it was going to be. I’ll have to see how much stuff I get done for myself in the time they’re both away 😉

I also feel that I need to be more creative and make things. I’m not all that fussed about exactly what I make I just need to do it; partly for myself and partly for the children to see so I can inspire them to be creative.

My 2016 goals:
  • Write
  • Connect
  • Smile
  • Create

All in all it looks like it will be another busy year

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