The way to teach a child to listen the first time you say something is to show them, consistently, that you'll take action the minute they don’t listen. So if your "change" is to put your child in timeout, do so as your first action, not as your last resort. If it's to speak firmly, do that right away. You. Do. Not. Wait.

Simple. Effective. Makes sense right?

A buffet of choices can seem great--but if none of them are worth having, what's the point?

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Instead of making long lists of things I need to do to improve my house: tear down the wall between the kitchen and dining room/get all new appliances/paint the living room/rip up the carpets/refinish the floors/swap out the countertops, I can try harder to keep the home I already have clean and tidy, make it feel warm and snug, and hang those darn pictures in my living room already.

Instead of collecting catalogs from every health club and YMCA in the county and then planning out a schedule that would have me taking Zumba on Monday, Pilates on Tuesday, spinning on Thursday, etc, I can actually…show up for the yoga class that’s 4 blocks from my house. Regularly. And work hard while I’m there.

Instead of making elaborate plans to take the kids to story hour at the library every week (even though I hate it), working into the evening so we can afford a ski vacation, and dreaming about when the weather gets nice enough that I can take them to the nature center, I could read them a book. Go play in the snow with them. Go for a walk around our yard. Help them with their homework.

The truth is, every day brings with it plenty of opportunities for us to do better–not perfect, but better–at small, familiar things instead of chasing down the next new thing that will “make” us more: fulfilled, successful, better parents, more in shape. The more I try to do everything, the more elaborate a schedule I cook up–the more I slack off, drop the ball, leave things hanging. Because I can’t do everything and do it well. So-

Do fewer things.

Do them better.

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so. dang. good.