When creating a New Year’s resolution, sometimes we wonder, “What’s the point?” As adults, most of us have seen ourselves giving up on our New Year’s resolutions year after year, shortly after they have begun.

High on the list of failures is a resolution to lose weight. For some of us, this is a very realistic goal, but many people fall short because they set their goals too high.

Our resolution this year happens to be much more realistic than the commitment to go to the gym five nights a week. We resolve to help our nieces and nephews come up with realistic, age-appropriate goals that we believe they can stick to.

Here are a couple of ideas we feel will help your nieces and nephews ring in the New Year, broken into two life stages.

Preschoolers
Preschool age is really the first time that a child can begin to think about making their own resolutions. One great starting point is helping the preschooler get a grasp of what it means to be tidy - regularly picking toys up off his bedroom floor.

I think the best way for Aunties and parents to help a preschooler understand the importance of this particular resolution is to explain that if toys are left on the floor, someone like Daddy could step on them and hurt himself. This will give the child an understanding through his natural compassion and he will be more likely to tidy up than if he is given the “because I said so” explanation.

Another good resolution for kids this age is to help them get on top of personal hygiene. Is she already in the habit of washing her hands after using the bathroom? She may decide to commit to brushing her teeth once in the morning and once before bed.

Depending on how his parents are raising him, it could be a good idea to help him stick to these resolutions by offering positive reinforcement. Do his parents give out gold stars or allowance?

Kids
We think an excellent way to build self-confidence in our nieces and nephews is to help them eliminate negativity from their thoughts. We want to encourage them to think positively.
An interesting and realistic resolution for a child is to try to encourage self-esteem in their classmates. Maybe your niece or nephew would like to encourage a particular classmate the way you have encouraged her or him. We like to encourage ours to befriend the new kids in the class, making them feel comfortable and accepting them among their group of friends.

Another great option is to have them write an encouraging note to one of their classmates who they feel did a great job at something. This will teach them how to compliment others without expecting anything in return.

We want our nieces and nephews to know how important it is to try to stick to simple goals and how rewarding it is when they actually succeed.

Andrea Donsky and Randy Boyer are co-founders of NaturallySavvy.com.

Published: January 5, 2011