2020 Family Goals Recap

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday, despite it likely being different due to COVID.

Oh, 2020, I had no idea what you had in store for us, when I set my 2020 goals . One of my core goals was to spend more time together as a family. I think, after 9+ months of quarantine together, we can easily describe that as "mission accomplished"! :-) We've never spent this much time together. Normally we'd all be quite busy with us working, me traveling for work, the kids at school, kids at activities, etc. And, while we always made time for family time, it was more limited than what we've had together. We will remember this year forever, for many reasons. 

We played tennis together, went on runs, made meals (SO many meals, that I convinced Nick to help me in the kitchen for much of the pandemic), got into various shows (The Queen's Gambit, Bones, etc) & spent a lot of time together. We carved pumpkins, walked on the beach, flew kites, read books, played chess & rummy...I know the kids miss their friends & activities terribly, but there were bonuses to all of that family time. M & I absolutely missed being able to go on regular dates, or even just being home alone while the kids were out doing their own activities. As the pandemic raged on for months, we did get reasonably creative. 

Let's see how we did with our family goals for 2020:

Family:

• One fun activity per month with the kids - oh yes. Tennis, family walks, runs, movie nights. We were limited on our options outside of the house, but also went skiing in January & February, before COVID became a thing. 
• Off the computer by 7:30 each evening - I did reasonably well at this, but now have to read books on my laptop, as we don't have access to the library at the moment. So, I adapted this goal to be "off the computer (minus reading)" & did well. 
• Two dates with M per month - we were much more hit & miss on this, both because it was hard to go anywhere, & the kids were around a lot. But, we got creative. We squeezed in a few outdoor dining options over the summer, my parents had the kids a few times, & we made it work. Thank goodness for my parents helping us out. The kids enjoy it so much, as do my parents, & we get a chance to talk & connect without the kids. It's a lovely respite for all. 
• Schedule monthly video calls with M's family, who is unable to visit - time zones make this challenging, but I did get connected on WhatsApp to my mother in law, and have been sending her videos & photos of the kids, which she loves. We also did do a video call, and it was lovely to see my in laws. Interestingly, my family decided to stay better connected during COVID, and we now use Marco Polo to record videos for each other, almost daily. I also have a group with my sister & BFF, and we've never been better connected on a weekly basis. We've missed the girls trips, but the video chats have been a life saver in an otherwise challenging year. 
• Learn 20 new words of Farsi, so I can better communicate with M's family - I did start off strong with practicing, but found this really challenging as Duolingo & other sites don't offer Farsi. Instead, I pivoted to Spanish practice in Duolingo & learned something like 300 new words in 2020. So, language progress is being made - just not where I was expecting it. 

What about you? Did you have family goals for 2020? How did you do with your goals? Any thoughts on goals you might want to set for 2021?