2022 annual review, kids edition

I ran my kids through a Tim Ferriss style annual review. Here are the raw notes, just because:

What made you happiest this year?

William (6):

1. Putt-putt was fun because we got to be together as a family, and Dad made the huge light light up at the end, and we got the light up balls
2. Halloween since he got to be with Declan [his cousin] and get a lot of candy
3. Having dogs come visit [dog-sitting for extended family]
4. Going to the mall and buying some stuff

Charlie (12):

1. Going to the beach but it was stressful because with riding waves with Thomas and also worrying about stingrays, and Henry running away to get shark teeth. Really fun overall.
2. Having Zeus [his leopard gecko] makes him really happy like when he’s exploring or comes to his hand
3. Having Baylor [his cousin] over and seeing him at school and just doing stuff with Baylor
4. Cooking

Henry (9):

1. Thanksgiving because we were all together
2. The beach because he found a lot of shark teeth

Thomas (4):

1. Halloween because of candy
2. Putt putt, same reasons as William
3. Getting a toy from Nana

Themes (in general, they want more of these things):

• 🏖️ Vacation
• 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 Family
• ☀️ Outdoors
• 🍬 Candy and toys
• 🐶 Pets
• 🍳 Cooking

What made you unhappiest this year?

• Tucker and Pop-Pop dying 😔
• Fighting with each other and getting hurt
• Getting made fun of
• Snatching/stealing stuff from each other
• Eating restaurant food instead of cooking at home [this one is mine]
• Worrying about family members getting lost when we’re out somewhere [Charlie has anxiety about this]
• Sitting around the house all day

Start/Stop/Continue

Based on those lists, I tried to run a little start/stop/continue with them:

Start

• Buying new Switch games to play together as a family
• Have Sophie and Oona [dogs] over on a regular basis
• Get a new dog (or maybe just keep dog-sitting)
• Go on vacation during spring break and/or fall break instead of only in Summer
• A meal prep service like HelloFresh so Charlie can cook more
• Going to other parks like Table Rock or Caesars Head or Jones Gap
• Indoor activities like science experiments
• Reading long books out loud at bedtime over multiple days, instead of just tiny kids’ books

Stop

• Going to Cracker Barrel [Charlie hates Cracker Barrel]
• Breaking house rules [we have four house rules that in theory should cover the fighting/snatching/getting made fun of things]
• Eating take-out food so much
• Spending whole weekend days at home

Continue

• Playing Switch games together
• Charlie cooking meals for the family
• Summer vacation with family
• Outdoor adventures like Paris Mountain