Your new year wishes could begin with a wish for your child that he wake up each morning healthy and strong, able to see, hear, smell, taste and think about what is all around him. Wish that as he jumps out of bed on two strong legs, he thinks about the little girl in his class who sits in a wheelchair and has to lay on the floor because “her body hasn’t learned to sit up” yet. Changing his clothes, wish that he would someday know and appreciate that he has them, has a home that is warm, has two parents that love him and who can pretty much count on macaroni and cheese being a part of his next meal. That there will be a home to come back to, that mommy and daddy with both be there and that he will have his own bed to sleep in right where he left it that same morning.

New Year wishes continue as you could wish for your child that he be able to play in the sun, appreciate the rain and frolic in the leaves of fall. Build a snowman and sled in the winter without fear of anything; but thoughts of anything being possible. You should also include in your new years wishes that as he plays with his friends, he know how lucky he is to be able to be liked just for being himself. All too soon that will change. New Year wishes should be wished for all our children to love one another, to dispel the anger and judgment that will all too soon find them in their own lives, and to embrace every moment of every day; to make it productive, to learn and to use it to grow.

This may sound like a conglomeration of new year's poems, but these are things we silently wish for our children every day as we sit and watch them play at the park, or watch them walking out the school doors to join us in the car for the ride home. It’s what we wish for our children when we are angry ourselves with time and while we watch them sleep. New year wishes are heavily doled out during the holiday season, what about making those wishes out loud to your child; a new one for every day. What a unique way of communicating with your child. Having them make wishes for you as well will help to encourage and inspire and more importantly, slow us down to realize what is truly important in this life. Creating this new tradition will always help us focus on what lies ahead, and give us the opportunity to share quality time with our children before the business of the day takes over, as it so often tends to do.

This is not something that should be limited to your relationship with your children. A sick mother, a loving spouse or sister/brother. Anyone to whom you feel you don’t share enough of your thoughts, time and emotions with. Helping one another to start off every day, not just the new year on the right foot is a responsibility; one that can’t be taken lightly.

The words “I love you” come so easily to many of us, sometimes we don’t even realize that we say it out loud. It becomes a conditioned response and therefore, looses a degree of its meaning. Taking the time to look someone in the eye and say “My wish for you today is…” let’s them know that you care, you appreciate them and that your actions, as well as your words, back up all the “I love you’s”.