Now that the cards have been mailed, the gifts bestowed, the
family dinner consumed, and the house guests departed, you can finally sit back and relax.

OK, maybe not relax. The kids still need to be fed three times a day, the bills need to be paid and the laundry pile that is starting to egress to and from the family room needs some attention.

Never too far away from the normal business that is parenthood, hopefully you can take a minute or two to revel a bit in the slower pace that defines the winter break. If all goes as planned, you can turn a little extra attention to your spouse, partner, parent, child, or whoever it is in your life that inspired you to do all that pre-holiday preparation in the first place.

With the new year comes new opportunity. It’s a time to reflect on all that you have done in 2011 and all that you want to do in 2012.

If your mantle is like mine, it’s filled with holiday cards from friends and family recounting the fabulous trips to the beach, Europe, Disney and beyond, as well as the important milestones in their children’s lives.

As you reflect on your own 2011 trips and accomplishments and before you start working toward your 2012 goals, don't forget to pay homage to the present. Appreciate the value of Now as you play a little longer with your kids, linger a little longer at the dinner table and take a little extra time reading a bedtime story before January arrives.

As a reminder of the blessing that is our children, I offer you the words of Lebanese-American author Kahlil Gibran:    

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for
itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you
cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them
like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows
are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and
He bends you with His might that His arrows 
may go swift and far,

Let your bending in the Archer’s hand be for gladness;

For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also
the bow that is stable.