Disclosure: This post is sponsored by MEFA's U.Fund College Investing Plan; all opinions expressed are my own.
A New Year feels like a fresh start and 2021 feels like it is even more so than years past. In place of traditional resolutions, I like to create a list of 10 things I’m looking forward to each year and this year it definitely looks different. 2020 reinforced how important our family connections are as well as the importance of forward thinking. In sponsorship with MEFA's U.Fund 529 College Investing Plan, I’m sharing three things I’m looking forward to this year that center around our family’s plans for the future.
Cultivating Hobbies
From cooking to crafting, the time spent in close proximity at home has helped my family and I spend more time discovering our hobbies. Technology has definitely played a role in this from tutorials to family painting video conference sessions, but it’s also helped me give thought to how my husband and I can best support our children’s hobbies. My 10-year-old daughter has especially taken an interest in art and we’ve enjoyed exploring biographies of artists and learning that many started as young as she is. Being together for such an extended period of time has really helped me pay close attention to my children’s gifts and find ways to hone them especially as I think about what lifelong hidden talents they possess.
Building a Quiana Blueprint
This past year impacted women especially hard – from juggling work and caregiving, the compounded roles we faced were a lot. Looking ahead to the rest of 2021, I’m intentional about moving forward with my action plan for how I want to show up online and will continue to think about creating a strong future for my children. This includes continuing to contribute to their college savings plans and with MEFA’s U.Fund 529 College Investing Plan friends and family can join in my contributions. With both of my children’s summer birthdays already on their minds, this is definitely part of my portion of their gift wishlist!
Creating a Family Writing Practice
In November my daughter Nia joined in the National November Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge, and while she extended it a bit to go into the December break, it really spurred me to think about how we can write together as a family. Nia’s really inspired her brother to continue working on his 1st grade writing skills and with continued remote learning it warms my heart to see them working together. I’m hoping we can do some partner journaling throughout the year and I purchased a mother/child journal to get us started. Additionally, with my husband’s humorous creativity, I’m thinking a version of a family choose-your-own adventure story might be fun!
While our list of what we’re looking forward to this year is very inward focused, I’m thankful for our continued health and safety. As my family and I continue to stay at home for the time being, incorporating new ways of connecting as a family will be a strong point for us and we’ll continue to stay the course as we make small decisions today that will help us build for our children’s future.
To learn more about setting up MEFA’s U.Fund 529 College Investing Plan visit www.mefa.org/ufund.
