What kind of mom are you?
From everyday tasks to work schedules, exercise & food plans, medical needs to travel… One of the love/hate relationships I have is with planning: organizing task details vs actually just gettin to it and gettin it done. I like schedules and calendars, I like knowing what’s ahead and being prepared for all possibilities. It’s a gift and a curse as I have annoyed many with my details. At the end of the day, I still prefer organization and order and I like to feel accomplished. But I have changed my “type” with the different life stages.
My kids remember a phrase I often used while they were growing up. “Go do something productive.” I liked to find shortcuts when it came to household chores. Internet life hacks weren’t yet a thing when my older kids were growing up, but I sure would have loved finding or sharing ones that helped me. Efficiency just makes me happy, because it means taking fewer steps or less effort to finish a task. Multitasking was my super power and “work smarter not harder” was my mantra! The best part? Crossing those items off my list and knowing it took me less time to get it done than before. Except when it didn’t.
In the early years of mothering and house managing, I often daydreamed, (while doing the chores of course), of competing in the House Wife Olympics! Ya know, fastest sheet folding, pillowcase stuffing, and bed making were some of the categories I would enter 🙂 Meal prep, weekly outfit planning, and grocery lists to match the store layout were definitely contests I would have entered. It was my desire growing up to be a wife and a mom, and I would win those contest categories if the opportunity ever presented itself! I was gonna be great at my job as Domestic Engineer.
As I aged, I recognized my need to change priorities. Kids needed training and teaching, so I concentrated on their little brains during the pre-school years. Chores would still get done with as much efficiency as I could, but child rearing became more important than a clean house. I needed to find easier ways to accomplish the extra-curriculars of the domestic life. My husband had a request, and thus entered THE LIST!
Grocery list, chores list, errands to do list, things to discuss with my husband list, shopping lists, birthday, party set up list, wishlists, gift lists, appointment questions list, kids needs, dog meds etc etc. It seems the life of a Mom is sometimes all about managing the lists of life.
When my first two kids (boys) were school-aged, I posted the lists to help them remember their responsibilites, and so I could remind myself what I decided they could be doing vs me doing it all. “Steps to Clean Your Room/Bathroom”, chore charts with allowance reminders, “Morning Routine”, “After School Reminders”…. And years later, …
I have one son who loves lists, and one not so much. LOL. My oldest once told me, “I get nightmares remembering those dreadful “How to Clean” lists you used to put on the walls!” In contrast, my younger son has three dry-erase boards in his bedroom and the Notes app on his phone for the lists of things he is always working on.
Remembering what needs to happen and when is harder as I get older. Maybe its my ”mom brain” or my auto-immune issues, or just my age; but keeping lists is essential or things get forgotten and I get overwhelmed. Don’t tell my husband he was right 😉
Currently, my third child ( our only girl) is writing a packing list for vacation. I have only met one other human who loves making lists more than that girl, her Daddy! She got his love of lists and my love of organization. She’s a major detail-oriented, driven pre-teen who loves showing me the internet hacks I never had! She’s thrilled to get gel pens and journals, wipe off boards and calendars. She even keeps a water proof board in her shower so she can keep a list of her reminders. Her future husband or boss will certainly appreciate her many skills. Who am I kidding, she’ll probably be the boss!
Happy planning to you, if that’s your thing. And I secretly wish I had been a little more easy going in the earlier years. To each (mom) her own thing!
The Mom Job 24/7 