Our Year in Review + New Year’s Resolutions (with FREE New Year’s Resolution Worksheet for Kids!)
This has been an insane year, although I am sure I say that every year 😅 It’s had it’s shining high moments, as well as it’s lows. But when I look back on the year as a whole, what stands out most is how much intention it took to grow together as a family.
Below, I’m sharing a few highlights from our year and how they’re shaping our New Year’s resolutions. I even made a child-friendly worksheet for you (for free!) at the bottom of this post, so you and your toddler can reflect on your year and create your own resolutions together!
Highlights on the Year:
2025 was a year of big changes for our family, and with that came a lot of highlights. Reflecting on this year reminded me how much my son has grown and changed, as well as how much we as parents have grown! (Raising a two year old is no joke 😅.) Time is a thief and although I may miss every stage that my toddler grows through, I try to remind myself that there are always exciting times ahead! Without these big changes, we would have never been fortunate enough to experience these highlights…
- Potty Training: Potty training was something we set our sights on at the beginning of the year. In fact, it was in our son’s list of goals for 2025! Going through the process of potty training was challenging, but so rewarding (and not just because of the price of diapers 😮💨). It built a stronger connection between me and my son, and he built all new ways of communicating. We loved celebrating his little victories and seeing his own sense of pride grow. As I said it was definitely challenging with snags and bumps in the road (or accidents in my friend’s kiddie pool 😬) but we worked out a plan that best fit our son’s needs and ran with it. If you want to read more about it, I wrote all about potty training techniques here!
- Traveling: Traveling has always been something that my husband and I try to prioritize in our life, and having a kid didn’t change that; It really enhanced it! So, as we looked into 2025 and what we could experience with our ever-growing toddler, we were overflowing with ideas big and small. We ventured from the mountains to the beaches, and finished our year on a really big boat! Traveling isn’t just about the destination for us though, we have seen how much our son blossoms every time we experience somewhere new together. It is truly magical, and makes all the planning worth it. If you want to read all about our favorite toddler traveling tips I wrote about it in detail here!
- Reading: My son loves reading. I have instilled (possibly brainwashed) a love for reading into him since he was just a few months old. BUT, our household’s love for reading really took off this year. Not only did my son get his first library card in the early spring, but my husband and I took up reading to ourselves as a hobby again. We are loving it! My son has been thoroughly enjoying picking out 4-6 books every few weeks from the library, and some of his favorites from this year have been ones he has checked out! I compiled a list of his 10 favorite books from this year on my Instagram; Check it out here to maybe find a new favorite for your little reader!
Community & This New Chapter
The last highlight I’d like to share is starting this journey with you all. Taking a break from the teaching world was one of the most challenging decisions of my life, but I have reached new levels of happiness getting to be home with my son sharing our journey with all of you. I love the little community we have built and I am so grateful anyone reads this stuff! 😅 I can’t wait to keep growing with all of you, and expanding the reach of ReasHomegrown. 2026 is going to be big, especially with the aid of my 2026 New Year’s Resolutions…
New Year’s Resolutions, for your Toddler too:
My husband and I are big on New Year’s resolutions, although he simply calls them “goals.” We make it a point every first of the year to sit down and write out our goals for the year. We have started including our son in this goal-setting-session, and it’s turned out to be something our family really looks forward to! Here is one of my goals, and one of my son’s goals for 2026:
One of my goals as a SAHM is to be more purposeful with our weekday mornings. I want to start building routines for my son that mimic a school environment, and use that time less for the little tasks that seem to pile up.
One of our shared goals for the year is helping our son become familiar with the letters of the alphabet. After successfully tackling numbers, colors, and shapes; letters is the next logical step. We’re approaching this with curiosity, play, and zero pressure, focusing on enjoyment rather than achievement.
If you are looking for an age appropriate way to build a New Year’s resolution with your little ones this year, I have just the thing! I created this free resolution worksheet to get the conversation started. It talks about what a resolution is, how to look forward with intentionality, and a space to display their resolution! I tried to make it accessible for lots of ages, so if your kiddo isn’t quite ready to write yet, encourage them to draw their answers 😄
Final Thoughts
2025 was truly a year to remember and I am so glad that I have all of this to look back on! I hope as you and your family reflects on your year, your heart feels full. No matter if it was one of your best years, or one of the worst, you can set your sights on a positive 2026. I hope it’s the best year yet, for all of us!
See you all in 2026!
(Unless your subscribed to my Weekly Sprout, in that case I’ll see you on Sunday 😂)
❤️ Until next time
