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Happy New Year !

As we welcome in a new decade, we get time to reflect on what is really important to us, and plan for the coming year.

I have come up with my own three point F plan (don’t worry nothing to do with the 1980s uber-fiber diet). It goes like this Ìý1. spend more time with my family, 2. catch up with friends and 3. have more fun.Ìý

With finances tight in January, we tend to try and do things that are free or cost very little. Meeting friends at the is a firm favourite, you can park for free near the gallery at the weekend and there are always great activities for the kids to do. It is great to see a three year-old sitting before a masterpiece, trying to make their own! They have galleries in Liverpool and St Ives too.

We also Ìýhave membership to the , which means you get free entry to hundreds of places to across the country and most Ìýare re-opening for the February half-term, so that you and your friends, plus the kids can enjoy the full glory of the spring flowers, there is something amazing about seeing the first snowdrops of the year. Ìý

And lastly, when the weather is really bad we have a movie night, we try and pick a film that we will all enjoy, dim the lights, allocate seats and make home made popcorn. All the children love cuddling up on the sofa with us and it is nice to put your feet up for a few hours!

ÌýI think we all believe we can do better, when it comes to our own style of parenting, but Ìýwe can learn a lesson from the little people in our lives and just take one day at a time.

I tend to be very task driven and my days are filled with ticking off things that need to be done, laundry, shopping, work, school pick-up, etc. but when I stop and just play with the kids, I remember what I am doing all the running around for!

Many of us have unrealistic expectations about family life and think that we should be some model family that is portrayed in television adverts when in reality life is unruly, noisy and filled with arguments.

Lots of us our recovering from Christmas and for many, it has not been the rosy family event that we imagined.

There are more applications for divorce after the festive season, than any other time of year. Spending time with relatives and family can be hard work.

And as for resolutions, let’s face it, they were made to be broken! ÌýBut if you are serious about change and making a lasting difference to family life, sit down and write out a list of small, achievable goals.

There is nothing worse than writing something like ‘I will not shout at the children’ and then find that five minutes later, you are doing that very thing.Ìý

Equally frustrating is making the age old one resolution of ‘I want to lose weight’, only to find that you immediately find yourself finishing off the Roses tin, which only has coffee creams and strawberry creams left in it (and lets face it no one even likes them)!

It is better to write ‘I will count to five before I raise my voice’ or ‘I will only eat one small piece of dark chocolate a day’, than grand statements that are unachievable.

And if your relationship with your other half is struggling, don’t make any rash decisions, take time to reflect on the options open to you. has some good relationship advice and you could always go for counselling, before you make any decisions about your future.

This idea of having a new beginning should give us all hope for a better 2011, just don’t get put off, if you fall off the wagon and dive back in to the coffee creams!

Claire Winter is a member of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Parent Panel.

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