I’m generally not big on New Year’s resolutions. Thanks to my routine-driven lifestyle, I’m not a yo-yo dieter or a join-the-gym-at-the-start-of-every-year kind of person, and I've long since abandoned vestiges of my 20s' substance abuse binging.

But I don’t have to dig too deep to recognize that my behavior could use some adjustments. Even if I wanted to deny them, my flaws show up in my kids. So this year, I have a few resolutions to make. In 2012, I vow to …

Get organized. I had to empathize with my daughter when I read her progress report from school a few weeks ago. Her  teacher wrote that she "tends to leave a trail behind her as she travels from class to class." I know just where my daughter got that habit. As I go about my day, I'm constantly leaving papers here, mugs of half-drunk coffee there, my cell phone who knows where. If I straighten up my act, maybe she will too.

Stop cursing in front of my kids. I don't do it on a daily basis, but any amount is too much. My 11-year-old has perfected the precise tone and emphasis I place on the "sh" part of my most frequently used curse word. Not something I'm particularly proud of, though I must say that her ability to imitate me is uncanny. When I remind her that children aren't to utter those sort of words, she shoots back with the obvious: Don't say words you don't want me to say. Enough said. 

Avoid judging others. An off-hand remark here, an uncomplimentary comment there—these seemingly harmless things we adults say to one another, whether about our relatives or some shmuck who cut us off on the road, do not go unheeded by young children. And before you know it, these pint-sized people are adding their own insults to the mix. So the next time I feel myself preparing to publicly denounce someone, I will try to check my tongue.

Give my kids more hugs. By the time I was a teenager, the thought of giving either one of my parents a bear hug was abhorrent. It wasn't cool, it wasn't comfortable, it just wasn't done. And sometimes I sense my pre-teen daughter coiling into herself, even when she's sad or frustrated and could really use a hug. While she initially may resist my hugs as I throw my arms around her, eventually her stiffness softens, and she relaxes right into my embrace as if to say that's what she wanted all along. Hugs are one of the few things I believe parents can give kids in copious amounts without spoiling them.  

That sums up my new year's resolution list for 2012. When I slip up, I won’t have to look at a scale or a bunch of empty bottles in the trashcan to realize I’ve failed.

I’ll see it in my kids.