I am a super-planner. Seriously. I can plan ANYTHING! I am not the best at the execution of said plans, but I can make some seriously good plans.
In fact, as a teacher, plans are very important to me. As a preschool teacher, they are also pretty simple to create. My three year olds are really bright, but I do not have to plan a lecture on the fundamentals of string theory or anything. Just some cool facts about bugs, a cute art project and a Bible story and I am pretty well set.
That said, it is March, and I just got finished making plans for the rest of the year. The rest of the year at school, not at home. I am pretty much clueless about plans at home most of the time, but I try. I try to write to-do lists and think ahead to projects that need to be completed. Don’t we all? But I may be a bit over-the-top with it.
A few months back, my cousin came for a visit and found what I can only describe as my planning book. This is the notebook where I draft to-do lists, menus, workout routines (Yeah. Workout routines. I said I make awesome plans, but my scales will verify the poor execution), projects, etc. The Cuz said, “Seriously. A book of lists about lists?”
Yup. Lists about lists. Lists of things to buy. Lists of things to read. Lists of things to do. Lists of lists I need to make. I am beginning to think that I may need some counseling. I will put that on my list.
I even printed out eight pages of someone else’s lists of things to clean today. I apparently needed some help making my lists. (Has the word “list” begun to lose meaning for you yet? You know, like when you say the same word over and over and it starts to sound odd? List. LIST. list. lIst. LiSt. list. Llllllliiiiiiiisssssssttttt.)
The first step is to admit that you have a problem.
Hello. My name is Jill and I am a psycho-lister.
Unfortunately, I could not find a list of local Listers Anonymous meetings, so I decided to try something new. Some friends of mine sent me to a website that has helped with my list problem. (Here is the shameless plug: FlyLady.com. I won’t go on and on about how awesome the site is, but just know that it is awesome.) My new something was that I would try to actually ACOMPLISH something on my lists.
So with a little guidance, I made some new lists. And every day I do them. The same lists every day. Not one of my 839305 that I have in various notebooks. The same 4 lists. And a miracle happened.
Stuff got done.
Did you hear me? STUFF GOT DONE! My house got clean(ish). My clothes got washed. I even have coffee every morning and clean cups to put it in. I can hear the angels singing!
Now, I usually joke about the craziness at my house with the kids, but I want to be a little serious. As a lister and planner, I was always worried about everything that was still on the list to do. You know: “I wish the baby would go to sleep already because I need to do the dishes, clean the bathroom, etc.” Or “You go outside and play. I have to get this laundry folded.” There was always SOMETHING that had to be done, and I put off what I really needed to do like paint pictures and play with play dough.
Until I made my 4 lists, I did not realize how bad it had gotten. I was even seeing bedtime stories as something else to check off the list. Please, look at me with pity right now, because that is just pitiful. I mean, bedtime stories are such an amazing thing. You slow down, you talk, you snuggle. It should not be a springboard to another to-do list. It should be the destination.
Now I will brag because I am really proud of myself. Evenings are my toughest time of the day because Porkchop is at work, so it is just me and my three sons. Tonight, I cooked (not just warmed up) dinner for me and the kids. We (not just me) set the table (which was clean, thank you, FlyLady), ate together with no TV, cleaned up the dishes, read a story and a Bible story, said prayers and talked about the people we need to pray for, watched 2 cartoons, brushed teeth, and had everyone in bed, happily, by 8:00. And this is now a normal night for us.
So now I am going to go make a list: Reasons why I ROCK!
