Top Tips on Parenting for Happier, More Successful Families; Create A Family Bucket List for 2011!

Would you like to know one of my top tips on parenting for the year? This tip is powerful for parenting teenage kids or toddlers. It will also make disciplining teenagers and disciplining toddlers that much more effective , and easier. We all want to leave our children with powerful, cherished memories of their childhood. I’ll show you how to take a quantum leap in this department this year!

This New Year’s, my planning for the year took on a new twist. Instead of doing my 101 goals, which is an exercise I loved, I decided to spend some time thinking about my bucket list for 2011 with my family. It was a surprisingly fun and fruitful exercise.

Have you ever looked back on a weekend, and realized that with a bit of planning, you could have done something much more exciting? Lately I’ve been realizing that my kids are growing quickly (they are 11 and 13), and there are many small and big activities I want to do with them. However, it is so easy for a whole year to slip by, and along with it, great chances to do something meaningful and memorable.

Here’s my bucket list for my family in 2011. We live in the foothills of the Rockies, and so our list is tailored to our family, and the opportunities we have in our backyard, as it should be!

1. Fishing this summer(we went for the first time as a family last summer and we all loved it),
2. Canoeing down the local river (another activity we did once last summer and loved)

3. Hiking in the nearby mountains at Maligne canyon (haven’t been since kids were little),
4. Skiing, both cross country and downhill,
5. Tobogganing (Already done! We went New Year’s Day, after missing a few years),
6. Riding horses with my parents,
7. Going to the Edmonton International Fringe Festival, where many plays are held over a week,
8. Attending our town’s 100th anniversary concert and other events,
9. Sending Sam to Ottawa to be with his aunt and uncle,
10. Taking a warm vacation before Christmas next year!

Many of these activities require a bit of planning ahead. Last year I know we could have done more things on the list if I had the idea in my the forefront of my mind. Many activities on my list are cheap, so the main issue is planning ahead.

To my delight, the one that I didn’t think my husband would go for, cross country skiing, is now looking promising. I want to take the kids on some of the great mountain trails. We’ve cross country skied on the local trails over the last few years. My husband had had lost his enthusiasm, and didn’t want to go this year, even with the lure of the more exciting mountain trails. However, he knew I wanted to go again this year, and just today said that he wanted to get more exercise, so he’s in! I know if I hadn’t mentioned that I wanted to go, he would have found another way to get more exercies.

Can you imagine the benefit that those few minutes spent developing and writing down the list will bring you and your family? Priceless memories. As many top achievers have noted, goals that are written and declared publicly are dramatically more likely to happen.If you are tempted to put it off, I challenge you to schedule a time and do it! Involve your family and see what they’d like to do!

So post your family’s bucket list below. Print off your bucket list as well, and post it where you will see it often! That one action will keep your list in your mind, and will have a powerful effect! Then put a note in your calendar for Dec. 31, 2011 to check to see how much you got done on your family’s bucket list.

Share this post with your friends and help make 2011 a happier, healthier one for the families you know and love!