It’s the first Slice of Life Tuesday for the year, and that means it’s time to think about my One Little Word for 2026.
I’ll come right out and say it: this year’s word is REMEMBER.
Okay, so I’m being a little tongue-in-cheek because I invariably forget about my word by the time February rolls around. (I can’t be the only one…can I?)
But remember, to me, brings together a whole set of threads I’ve been trying to collect for a while.
- Remember my focus, my purpose, as I take on new tasks.
- Remember what I enjoy doing, and do it.
- Remember the commitments I make to myself.
This all sounds super-simple. It’s just one word, and only three things to do with it. But like I often tell my students, simple and easy are very different things. So I will strive for the simple, knowing it might not be easy. Heck, just even remembering to think about my OLW will be enough of a challenge.
That’s where technology will come into play. Yes, I’m putting a reminder on my phone for each Monday night. Yes, that reminder comes just in time to get myself together for Tuesday Slice of Life. Clever, eh?
How will I do with this year’s One Little Word? Time will tell. Time will tell…
Soapbox: The Way I see Things 
I love this!! Great word and great use of technology! Go Lainie!
Thanks! Phone reminders have been a LIFESAVER for me.
I love the phone reminder to REMEMBER! Brilliant, Lainie.
I’ve been focusing on remembering things a lot lately. They’ve been more to-do list things, but remembering to guard my health and work to make it better this year is something I have to remind myself of constantly. Otherwise, I’m gigving too much of myself to other people.
Thanks, Stacey! I think my “remember” probably encompasses both the little and the big. I honestly don’t know where I would be without to-do lists and brain dumps.
As for giving too much of myself to other people, I’ve been working on that – a LOT – myself.
Ooooh! Great idea – a reminder for remember! Love it!
Thanks! I’ve been enjoying everyone’s OLW. I think just about everyone has something that makes me think, “Man. I wish I thought of that.”
Love your clever ending “Time will tell” in your last paragraph that connects so well to your plan to put “a reminder on [your] phone for each Monday night.” That will be so much better than the proverbial string on your finger.
Thanks, Alice. Hopefully that reminder will do the trick, thought I’m not above the LITERAL string on the finger approach!
Love the phone reminder to “remember.” I often leave myself “sticky notes” to remember items, dates or jobs. Somehow, writing it down makes me remember!
Ohhhh sticky notes. Where would I be without sticky notes!?
Although, as a teacher, I have had a habit for 30 years that I haven’t been able to break – which is, I’ll jot the names of a few kids, but not why I make the note. My entire career is littered with lists of students I’ve written down and can’t remember why. Did they miss their homework? Have I loaned them a book? Do I need to ask them to clean their desks? No clue.
Ah well. Guess “remember” is, indeed, an important word for me…
remember is such an evocative word. My first thought was to keep in mind those we have lost, and what they taught us. And what they would want us to remember are your three intentions 🙂
Fran, I love that intention. It’s strange, though. Right now, my loved ones are so very PRESENT in their absence…I always feel them with me, and yet I there’s still a vacuum where they used to be.
But remembering what they would want for me? I kind of like that. So thank you =))
I appreciate the word “remember” for so many reasons, not the least of which is watching my mother fail to remember so much. Thank you, also, for reminding me to mark that distinction between simple & easy…a distinction I often try to convey to my students, but one that I forget (!) about far too frequently.
Ohhhh. That idea hits home. After seeing both my grandmother and my father battle dementia, and seeing my father-in-law on the same path, I feel that deeply. It’s taught me so much about memory, about compassion and love. Thanks for that reminder.
All of which is to say, I see you. You are NOT alone. ❤