Life Organizer

My first girl scout cookie season knocked me for a loop. I think next year will go better, because I got more organized about it as we went along - and maybe I’ll get better at delegating! Our sale was really successful, and it was totally worth it, but oh how glad I am that it’s over! Final paperwork was turned in yesterday, woohoo! No more weekend booths, counting cookies and money, taking cookies everywhere I went, hauling cases of them back and forth from the van.

I realized today that the last time I cleaned the kids’ rooms was September. They do okay on their own for a while after I’ve been in there, but then too many things get out of place and they get as overwhelmed as I do. Ugh.

So now I have several competing crises again, but I’m determined to get out of crisis mode. I’m going to work on everything for a little while today. The laundry was caught up on Saturday, which was a major victory! Mick got the lawn mower fixed and front yard mowed (with 8YO Timothy’s help!) over the weekend. That feels good, even though it wasn’t my personal victory. The kids seem to be wanting to help more lately, though it isn’t always with the things that I really want and need for them to do. Remember the Bible story about Naaman? He had leprosy and was told by Elisha to wash in the river Jordan. He was angry at this, perhaps because he was expecting to be told to do a “big thing”, and something that simple was beneath him. My kids like to do “grown up work” - big things that they may not be ready for, but they don’t seem to want to bend down and pick up all the little stuff on the floor that hurts my back. I guess the trick is to get them trained to do the big and little things before they lose all enthusiasm. Any advice? In our old house, which had carpet, somehow I convinced them that vacuuming was totally fun, so the kid who picked up the most toys got the longest turn with the vacuum cleaner. Unfortunately, sweeping the hardwood isn’t quite as appealing.

I’m not too down on my kids for being that way, because aren’t we all? We want to do the important things that are admired and full of glory, and who ever got praised for picking up the socks from underneath the kitchen table? LOL

Woohoo, I think I like the look of my new blog. Now, to get some posts made!

Once again, I find myself pondering the huge number of Really Important Things That I Need to Do, And Right Now. Clean the floors, prepare the next girl scout meeting, sell cookies, help the kids with homework, cub scout activities, piano lessons, UIL Music Memory contest, work on this web site, work on the Stitchery Mall web site, buy groceries, pay bills, plan menus, exercise… If I dropped everything to concentrate on any one of them for a whole day or two, then I could really feel some progress - and that’s good, right? But then everything else would REALLY go to pot, and they’re important too (else they wouldn’t be on that RITTINDARN list)

Operating in Crisis Mode just sticks a band-aid on one thing, or maybe two. It doesn’t really help, though. So once more, I’m re-committing to baby-stepping my way through everything, and doing a little bit of everything every day.

Oh yeah, and I’m giving up my puzzle site until after 8 PM. *sigh* There, I said it out loud. Now I have to do it! LOL!

So how about you? Are you having trouble getting out of crisis mode, too? Is there a precious time-waster that you need to give up or limit?