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2018 Word of the Year and Setting Goals for January 2018

Happy New Year! Check out our 2018 Word of the Year, as well as the goals I’m setting for January 2018.

Click to read also: How to Choose a Word of the Year

Happy New Year! Check out our 2018 Word of the Year, as well as the goals I'm setting for January 2018. #wordoftheyear #wordoftheyear2018 #happynewyear

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Happy New Year! 2017 was a big year for our family. Three of my four kids started homeschooling, we moved to a house (no more shared walls!), and we got a puppy! Mike and I also stayed up until midnight for the first time in at least a decade last night to welcome in the new year. Something we can afford to do now that all of our children finally sleep through the night in their own beds. Our eleven-year-old stayed up until 11, the 10-year-old until 10pm, and the eight-year-old almost made it to 9pm – but not quite. Our five-year-old loves bedtime, and was very happy to put herself to bed at 7pm.

Word of the Year for 2018: Explore

Confession: I am not a very adventurous person. I was born into an adventurous family, and therefore my childhood was adventurous. That led to more adventures in young adulthood, simply because I learned to seize adventurous opportunities.

But since having kids, life has mostly consisted of childcare. It’s adventurous in its own way. After all, you never know how kids are going to act or react. My four children are growing older, and we’ve settled into what I hope will be a long-term home. With home life settling, it’s time to push ourselves again.

And so, my word of the year for 2018 is EXPLORE. Not adventure, because I think this year is more about figuring out where and how to stretch ourselves in this newly settled life. We’re taking the kids back to Scotland this summer with a new crop of students, and I want to explore there, too. When we took the kids the first time in 2016, I mostly took them to my favorite spots in Edinburgh. This summer, I want to explore the parts of the city I didn’t see during the three years Mike and I spent there as grad students.

Read about past words of the year here:

Setting goals for January 2018

Setting Monthly Goals: January 2018

In January, I want to:

  • Find a place to live during our month in Scotland.
  • Decide school options for kids in the fall. I think everyone will stay where they our (Johnny in our local public school, and the three girls at home), but we need to decide for sure.
  • Draft, maybe publish (if I am super organized) an ebook.
  • Publish at least two posts on my Top Toy Finds site.
  • Publish at least two posts on my Great Family Reads site.

Looking for more goal setting inspiration? Check out this post from my friend Cassie, it comes with a 2018 personal calendar printable. Varya is giving homeschooling a try with her oldest child, and restarting her virtues series.

Happy New Year! Check out our 2018 Word of the Year, as well as the goals I'm setting for January 2018.

What are your goals for this month? Do you have a word of the year for 2018? Please share in the comments below, or share a post link on my Facebook page! You can also tag me on instagram

MaryAnne at Mama Smiles

MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.

12 thoughts on “2018 Word of the Year and Setting Goals for January 2018”

  1. Every time I attempt a word of the year I remember what it is for approximately 2 weeks and then forget it…. Sigh.

    What kind of ebook might you publish?

  2. My word of the year was chosen through the generator wordoftheyear.me : BEGIN. It’s the first one that came up and I embraced it, mostly because I need to begin homeschooling my kids again after five months in temporary housing.

  3. Natalie PlanetSmarty

    Happy New Year! How exciting that you are going to Scotland again. I am thinking of having a word of the month instead of a word of the year. My thought is that my word is going to be “Adapt” for January.

    1. Sounds like a great word to start off the year! I do like the idea of a word of the month. Allows for a more defined term, potentially.

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