The Parenting Reset for a New Year

Tired of “new year, new you” pressure? We’re choosing a gentler path. Instead of chasing resolutions that turn into pass/fail tests, we slow down and reflect on what actually worked in 2025. We start by celebrating tiny, meaningful wins—like a bedtime that flowed or a peaceful car ride—and use those clues to build a calmer rhythm. From there, we get curious about who our kids are becoming, naming the traits that surfaced this year so we can respond to the child we have, not an ideal in our heads.

We also turn the spotlight back on ourselves and acknowledge what we did well as parents. Maybe it was staying steady during a tantrum, protecting a helpful routine, or finding a moment of fun on a tough night. That self-credit is not fluff; it’s fuel. With that confidence, we choose what to carry forward into 2026—habits and strategies that already help—and we consciously leave behind what feels heavy, like overscheduling or guilt spirals. Letting go makes space for a lighter, more connected family life.

To land the plane, we set one to three gentle intentions for the year ahead: calmer mornings, clearer boundaries, or more focused connection. We pair each intention with support—books, podcasts, professionals, or simply a trusted friend—so change feels doable, not daunting. The result is a practical, compassionate reset that starts with awareness and grows through small, repeatable actions. If you’re ready to parent with less pressure and more presence, hit play, take a breath, and begin the year with curiosity. If this resonates, subscribe, share with a friend who needs a softer start, and leave a quick review to help more parents find us.

Welcome to the Kebudel Parent Podcast—your no-nonsense, fun-filled guide to parenting, straight from the experts who really get kids (and parents too!). 

Brought to you by experienced early childhood educators, we’re here to dish out practical advice, laugh at the messiness of parenting, and share our insider knowledge to help you thrive. From decoding tantrums to sparking your child’s love of learning, we cover it all with a healthy dose of humor and zero judgment.

Why listen? Because parenting doesn’t come with a manual, but it can come with expert-backed insights, a little sass, and a whole lot of support. Let’s navigate this wild ride together—one episode at a time. 

Transcript

A New Year Without Pressure

SPEAKER_00 1:06

Kioda, and welcome back to the Kibirtle Podcast. I'm Alex from the first five years, and somehow it's 2026 already. Which honestly feels ridiculous because I swear January 2025 was like five minutes ago. But I guess time really does fly when you're busy parenting and spinning all the plates at once. I do hope that you manage to sneak in a little bit of rest over the holidays, even if it was just a quiet cup of coffee that you didn't have to reheat. Today I want to talk about something that always seems to roll in around this time of year, and that is the whole new year, new you vibe. Everywhere you look, there's advice, slogans, shiny plans, and there's kind of seems to be this unspoken expectation that you should have a plan for the next 12 months already sorted. Oh my goodness, I find it quite exhausting. Because some days I'm just trying to get through what I'm going to make for dinner, or getting the load of washing out of the washing machine, or figuring out what appointments I have to get to in the next week. So thinking about the next 12 months, the entire year ahead. Oh, well, that just feels a bit impossible. And sometimes an added pressure that isn't really necessary. And there's quite a lot of messaging around what is your New Year's resolution? And I used to make New Year's resolutions. Um, I think before I was a parent, I used to make New Year's resolutions quite frequently. And I remember one year I decided that I was going to try and run a half marathon. I thought, well, if other

Why Resolutions Feel All Or Nothing

SPEAKER_00 2:42

people can do it, I should give it a give it a go. And a few weeks into training, I realized I don't really like running. It's not really for me. Because I think three or four weeks into training I was just tired and sore and, you know, questioning my life choices. And then, well, fortunately I found out that I was pregnant, so my doctor told me that um I really shouldn't be doing the race, so that was nice. Um bit of a relief actually. But New Year's resolutions, when we set them, they can often feel all or nothing. So you either smash your New Year's resolutions or you don't. They're kind of black or white often. They either uh pass or fail. And when we don't meet our New Year's resolutions, it's easy to feel like a failure before your year has even started. So instead of resolutions this year, what if you tried something a little different? What if you paused, reflected, and reset? Not to be better, but to notice what actually happened in the last year. Celebrate the wins and think about what you might want to carry forward and maybe what you might like to leave behind. Because I think reflection and getting curious is much more helpful when we're trying to figure out how we want to parent, who our little people are. And often when we reflect and we get curious, things are highlighted in our lives and we're made aware that can bring sense of an achievement, then setting like kind of really black and white goals. So let's start with looking back at parenting highlights. I want you to take a moment and think about three moments in 2025 that felt meaningful to you. And the tiny things count too. Maybe it was just a bedtime story that went unexpectedly well. Maybe it was a car trip where you managed to get from one place to the next without anyone cracking it in the car. So for me, one thing that stands out is that my children started to bike to school and home by themselves. And I had to support them in feeling confident in doing that by themselves, but also managing my big

Celebrate Small Parenting Wins

SPEAKER_00 4:53

feelings around separation. So I'm really proud of how I manage that, but also watching my children work towards that milestone was very cool. So just pause for a moment and think about your own small wins. Have you got them? I want you to write them down. Next I want you to notice who your child is becoming. What traits have stood out in the past year? Maybe your little person has discovered a new interest, shown resiliency in a tricky moment, or made you laugh. Perhaps their temperament traits have become more apparent. Who is your child? What makes them special? Who are they becoming? So I want you to pause here, and I want you to name one or two traits that you've noticed in your child in the last year. Perhaps it's something that you haven't noticed before. Now let's celebrate what you did well as a parent. I know this can feel awkward because it's so easy to focus on what went wrong, but I want you to think about three things that you're proud of. Maybe you stayed calm during a tantrum. Maybe you created a fun moment on a tired evening with your kids. Or maybe you just made it through a day without losing your calm. These things, while they may seem small, are actually quite huge. So I want you to celebrate your awesomeness for

Seeing Who Your Child Is Becoming

SPEAKER_00 6:10

a moment. So often as parents we focus on what we're not doing well, but there will be hundreds of things that you do every day that you don't acknowledge. So I want you to stop now and just pause and think about some of the things that you did well as a parent. I want you to write these down. And I also want you to take a moment here, take note of the wonderful things that you have done well as a parent. I want you to write these down. Even better yet. I want you to go and tell yourself in the mirror what you did well and pat yourself on the back. Next I want you to reflect on what you want to carry forward into this new year. What do you want to carry forward into 2026? Perhaps it's routines that were helpful, parenting strategies in tricky situations or just habits in your world that worked last year. Maybe it's a bedtime rhythm that helped everyone get to bed quickly, or some one-on-one time with each of your children. Maybe it's how you handled tantrums, whatever it is, write it down. What do you want to carry forward? When things are working, there's no need to reinvent the world, right? The things that work is usually it's usually just an effective thing to keep using them rather than overhauling everything. So write them down and consider what do you want to carry forward? And next, what do you want to leave behind? Think about patterns or expectations that felt heavy and stressful, or just unhelpful. Maybe it was overscheduling, or guilt spirals when maybe you made a mistake as a parent. Maybe it's rushing through meals. What can you leave behind and let go? Letting go helps us make space emotionally and mentally for a more calmer, connected year ahead. So pause

What You Did Well As A Parent

SPEAKER_00 8:05

here. Write down what are you going to let go? What are you going to release this year? And something I really notice parenting my twins is that our kids teach us as much as we teach them. What did your little humans teach you last year? Was it patience, honesty, playfulness, curiosity, or maybe just the value of slowing down? My twins in the last year have taught me a lot about resiliency, empathy, noticing emotions in myself and in them. Children help shape our character just as we shape theirs. So what did your child teach you in the last 12 months? Now let's consider one to three areas that you might want to focus on in 2026. Keep it realistic. Maybe you would like calmer mornings, clearer boundaries, or more connection time with your child. Focusing on just a couple of areas is better than trying to do everything at once because we have to be kind to ourselves and give ourselves some grace. So we don't want to pile on a lot of additional pressure. But I do think it's good to set intentions about a couple of areas that you want to deepen your understanding in. So write these down. Write down three areas that you want to focus on. And think about how you're going to support yourself in deepening your understanding in these areas. Are there certain professionals that you can reach out to? Books or podcasts or talking with friends. I just think it's so important that when we set intentions as parents, that we do so with kindness, grace, and compassion. Because this is not about adding on pressure and piling on more work for us to do as parents, but it's about setting positive intentions. So the thought I'd like to leave you with is this reflection conversation that we've had in this podcast, it isn't about creating a checklist. It isn't about adding

Carry Forward What Works

SPEAKER_00 10:00

more pressure. It really is just about noticing and acknowledging and appreciating what actually happened in the last 12 months. Because little moments like the smiles, the learning, and maybe the chaos, they are part of our story. And when we pause to notice them, we can start this coming year with perspective, awareness before any action. And that's kind of where the magic happens, isn't it? I think reflection is such an incredible tool as a parent. So this year, you don't have to set New Year's resolutions if you don't want to. Rather, I'd encourage you to set intentions. Because when we set intentions, we can pause, we can notice, we can celebrate, we can carry forward what really matters to us. So step into this year with curiosity and the confidence that you are doing enough and you are more than enough for your child. Thank you so much for joining me today on the Kaburdle Podcast. I hope this gives you a little space to breathe, reflect, and step into 2026 with intention rather than pressure. See you next time.