03 Jan Resolutions 2023

Happy New Year! Hope your last few days have been great so far 🙂 Before I share my resolution for 2023, It is time to reflect my last year’s resolution and see how I did!

Here was the last year’s resolution.

1. Spend no more than 8 hours at work and more time with Katya and Erik.
2. Find a way to be more active and tone my body.
3. Continue to save and prioritize to spend money on house renovation and family activities.

1: It has been a year of adjusting to my new chapter: mom life. I love being a mom to Katya more than anything, but I also love working and providing for my family that way.  I want to have it all and want to balance them even better! I would say I did “okay” on this goal; I worked more than 8 hours a day on some days, but on other days, I did work less than 8 hours a day. My working hours are tricky due to the many meetings with colleagues in New York and Japan I have to take. When I have fewer meetings in Japan or do not have many meetings, I take advantage of spending more time with Katya. However, on somedays, my meetings are jam packed that I work 12 hours a day easily. Because of this tricky working hour, communication with my husband and covering each other is very important. He sometimes has work trips, which mean I have to watch Katya for a few days by myself. Those days are tough to balance my work and Katya, but I am so proud of myself for taking care of both. I am also thankful that we can both work from home and have great teamwork in taking care of her 🙂

2: I am not enthusiastic about the idea of working out. I do not enjoy physical activities, which often makes me feel like a chore. Things like hiking sound great in theory, but not in real life as the steep hills and sun make me sweat profusely and bug bites cause itchiness (am I allergic to nature lol). Even though I am not a fan of working out, an active toddler won’t care about my preference. She is more curious nowadays and wants to explore her surroundings. When I have time between my work calls, I go on walks with her to get my steps in. And on weekends, I take her to run errands and shopping with me. I consciously take her outside with me because she is in our small house all day while we work.  Nowadays, she does not just walk outside by my side but she (somewhat) runs to investigate interesting objects. I really enjoy walking outside with her because I can see nature through her innocent and curious eyes, which helps me reconnect and appreciate our surroundings. Nothing is fresher than the outside air after spending long working hours in the house!

3: We added a few touches to our house to modernize it and bought more furniture to go with the vibe. Saving money wise, we are a little bit behind as we had a leaking pipe that we had to fix, but we are pretty good on that too. We sat down and talked about our finances and set a new goal for ourselves. Can’t wait for the day to look for a bigger home!

So, I think I did pretty well to follow my last year’s resolution. I want to continue to set goals for myself for this year in order to reach my full potential by consciously making day-to-day decisions! Here are some of my goals this year to share with you!

1. Go back to Japan with my family.
2. Spend more mommy & daddy time, and go out on dates.
3. Give back to the community as much as I can.

1: A few weeks ago, I lost my grandpa. He had been suffering from dementia for more than 12 years, and in mid-December, he went to heaven. I miss him terribly and regret that I haven’t been able to go visit him for more than 10 years. Circumstances like a U.S. visa, Covid, and pregnancy stopped me from traveling back home. Though this year, I have big hope to visit Japan since I am finally supposed to receive my 2nd green card, which has fewer limitations on travel + travel restriction to Japan is highly reduced! I promised to my grandma that I would come visit her this year with Erik and Katya, and I have full intention to keep my word! My grandma is so excited about finally meeting Katya, and I want to say how much I love her face to face. Grandpa’s unexpected passing made me re-prioritize what is important in my life. Luckily, the HQ of my company is located in Japan, which means I have more opportunities to visit Japan this year. I want to take the full benefit of travelling to Japan provided by the company (which my company also encourage me to) so that I can spend time with my family & friends and show my hubby and Katya the beauty of Japan!

2: It is very easy to deprioritize a relationship as husband and wife when we are swamped with work and childcare. This is so true for us, and I can’t even remember that time we could go out for a date night. We went out as a family many times, but when we did, it was far from romantic, since we were occupied with feeding Katya. We are so fortunate that we have friends and family who we can trust and rely on to watch Katya. I think it is time to take advantage of our support system, so I can get to know my husband more. I bet there are more things that I don’t know about him after becoming a dad.  I am excited to discover that and talk about life with him more 😉

3: Because I am truly blessed to have such an amazing support system, it really breaks my heart to see the news of kids being murdered or abused. What makes me cry is the fact that there are some kids who die without knowing to be loved unconditionally. Every kid should feel loved and feel safe. If I were a superwoman, then I would help all the kids out there, pour all the love I have, and keep them safe with all costs, but I am already overwhelmed with just my own baby. I can’t help all kids, but what I can do is to be there for my friends and family when they need help. If they want to take some “me time”, then I want to offer my help for them to relax. When I am relaxed and have enough “me time”, I can smile more at my daughter and be more patient with her. I learned that some parents who end up abusing their child did not wish to harm them, but they were at the end of their rope and ran out of patience. As a community, if we can reach out to even 1 family who needs help, we could collectively save many children. Happy parents would be less likely to harm their kids. I want to start giving back to the community, even if it is little 🙂

What are some of your resolutions? I would love to hear yours!

Hello 2023,

Fatima

(PC: Annie Mason Photo)