I’ve always been one of those people who looks for official new beginnings. The kind who waits for New Years, new months, or Mondays to make a change or start a new habit. Last week we let Ava just chill and get use to being home. I didn’t push back when she said no to walking or no to socializing, I pretty much let her just veg and do her. But today was Monday and now we had an idea of what to expect for the weeks at home so I busted out the calendar her godmother gave her, the teen cancer journal a friend had sent to us, and my own journal as well.

We had an early start to the day because Ava woke up at 4 am asking for ramen. Thankfully she went right to sleep after her JinYa. Once she finished her 2nd breakfast I told her it was time to set a goal for the day and that today was the day she would start journaling. At first she was resistant, but slowly she warmed up once I explained I was going to make a goal as well and I’d be writing in my journal too. So after a few minutes she told her goal was to walk down to the basement and visit with my mom. She filled out the beginning of her journal and then we headed down. While she was down there I was able to come up and get my goal done. I jumped on the Peloton for 20 minutes, took a shower, and folded a little laundry. This may not sound like a lot, but since July 12th she’s allowed me to leave her side for more than an hour only once. Today I when I told her I was going upstairs she begged me not too, but I did it anyway. My mom and mother in law will be with Ava when I return to work so she needs to get use to being outside our bedrooms and living room. She need to learn to depend on them as much she depends on me. She also needs to learn she’s going to be okay even if I’m not next to her. So being able to come up and get a couple things done is huge, baby steps for us.

In typical AJ fashion she had to not only reach her goal she had to surpass it. When her grandma was here she sat outside with her for a little while. Once she left I was able to have her go for a short walk with me. Then we sat outside to wait for Kevin to get home from work. Before bed she grabbed the journal and wrote about her day.

The thing about Ava is she’s not use to doing things halfway. She’s a 100% type kid. She hates to fail. To not meet a goal she’s set is killer for her. She’s always been this way. What Kevin and I not use to is her not setting the goals anyway. So we let her have last week without goals, but this week we’re going to remind her what she’s all about and how much of a goal getter she truly is. Hopefully this will put us in a good position for whatever next week’s bone marrow aspiration brings. Hopefully reaching daily goals will reignite her fire and get her ready to fight even if there’s still leukemia in her body.

So how about y’all? How are your goals going??