BY MAURA AMMENHEUSER
MOMARAMA MOM-IN-CHIEF
During the long New Year's holiday weekend, I launched into a conversation with my kids about New Year's resolutions.
As I mentioned on this blog recently, I'm not real keen on "resolutions," but I love the word "goals." You can read that post here.
My children are now 12 and 9, old enough to grasp the concept of setting a goal and working through whatever small steps are necessary to achieve it.
So over lunch on Jan. 1, I went all teachy-preachy with a little speech about goals and working consistently toward them.
Me: "So, dear children, are there any goals you'd like to accomplish in 2012?"
I was expecting them to say something like "save enough money for the next (insert name of junky overpriced plastic toy here)," or "grow my hair to my waist" or "outdo all my friends in a jump-rope contest."
But no.
Son replied: "Go to Japan!"
Daughter: "Go to Asia!"
Mom and Dad: (Stunned silence.)
What to say first? Inquire about who's funding this little outing, or about Daughter's geography skills?
Short of winning a very large lottery, there's no way we can possibly come up with the cash for such a trip, at least not in 2012. But I didn't want to quash the getting-enthused-about-goals spirit playing out over our meal, so I asked a few (more cautious) questions.
Turns out Son recalled Hubby's mention of a Japanese government program that got some buzz several months ago. Apparently, with tourism falling off sharply after last spring's earthquake, tsunami and nuclear problems, Japan hoped to encourage foreign visitors by offering free trips to a limited number of people. We have no idea what happened with this program. Hubby's Google search, hastily undertaken after our rather surprising New Year's chat with the children, turned up no recent mention of it. I suspect it fizzled out.
We gently explained to the kids that this trip is extremely unlikely, at least within a 12-month time frame. But I did urge them to consider what else would be necessary, besides money, for such a trip. Son, for example, might get super brave and sample some sushi (the raw-fish kind, not the California roll kind) to see if he could tolerate a diet of fish and vegetables for more than five minutes. Daughter might learn how to convert dollars to Japanese yen, and vice-versa - oh yeah, Son already knew what Japan's basic currency is called. I have to give him credit for that.
We explained what passports are, and I challenged the kids to look up instructions for obtaining them on the state department website.
The next day I asked the kids if either of them had done anything since our initial conversation toward their goal of visiting Japan. I expected blank stares. After all, we'd pretty much shot down whatever sincere hopes they harbored of heading to the Land of the Rising Sun.
Son piped up: "Konnichiwa!"
Me: "Huh?"
Son: "That's how you say 'hello' in Japanese."
Well, it's not a passport. But I guess saying "hello" is as good a step as any to move a bit closer to a goal.
What resolutions or goals have you made for 2012? What about your kids?
Share your ideas on blogs.inlandsocal.com/moms, PE.com, the Momarama page on Facebook, or by sending an email to pe.momarama@yahoo.com.
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