Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Sick Kids and Writing Lists

Well, it's official, we have a house full of sickies here.  I anticipated the possibility after Aja was here last week and sick, but hoped we could avoid it.  So far, Sammy seems to have a full-blown cold, and Jubee's in the "just starting" phase, a runny nose.  I keep asking if they feel okay, and if they have any pain anywhere, but they tell me, "no, I'm fine, I'm better," so I don't know if they have sore throats or headaches.

I have a sore throat and headache and a bit of a cough, and I'm pretty congested, but I'm trying to convince myself that it's a combination of a new pollen here that wasn't here two days ago and the dryness in the air.  If I have a cold, it's pretty dang mild, so I'm not gonna complain too much.

So, here's the plan today:

1.  Plug in the humidifier...like I said, I'm not totally convinced most of my problem isn't the dryness in the air.  We're at 25% humidity here in Laramie right now, that's pretty dang low.

2.  Watch Disney Junior.

3.  Try not to feel guilty about how much tv the kids are watching.

4.  Eat leftovers.

5.  Rinse.  Repeat.

Cam has to go to a First Aid/CPR class this evening after work.  He actually already has a fairly recent First Aid/CPR certification, but his job wants everyone to go ahead and renew now so they don't have to worry about it later.  Does anyone know how long this class takes?  It doesn't even start until 6pm.  I'm actually kind of excited about it, sometimes I really like having a quiet, alone-time evening, not all the time, but once in a while, especially after a long day of being whined at by sick kiddos.

So, here's my plan this evening, after the kids go to bed:

1.  Take the Pioneer Woman's 1970's Movie Quiz.  I probably won't do very well since I wasn't even born when these movies came out, but I'll give it a shot.

2.  Watch a couple of episodes of Little Dorrit online.  The Pioneer Woman should have a quiz on BBC Miniseries'.  I'd whoop up, fo' realzies.

3.  Eat the rest of the chocolate ganache in my fridge.

Whoa, I just realized how much more productive a day can seem if you just write it out in a list, even if it's the least productive day in the history of the world.

Now that I think about it, I often read blogs where people write out their schedules:

1.  Make breakfast, clean up after

2.  Do a load of laundry

3.  Read 30 minutes to children

4.  Make lunch, clean up after

5.  Put kids down for naps

6.  Clean bathroom

7.  Mop the kitchen, if needed

8.  Read to children another 30 minutes

9.  Make dinner

10.  Sit down to family dinner

11.  Etc., etc.

It sounds impressive, all written out like that, even intimidating, but I'm like, "um...you had to write down that you were going to feed your children?  You had to remind yourself to mop the floor if it was muddy?"  It's no more than most moms do on a daily basis, maintaining basic cleanliness and making sure their kids are fed and whatnot.  That, my friends, is the sign of a consumate list maker, not a phenomenal super-mom.  From my to-do lists today, you can tell that I am a list maker.  I'm also a phenomenal super-mom, too, but that's a story for another day.

P.S.  I secretly think that all of us list-makers actually only need to remind ourselves of one thing per list, e.g., do that load of laundry so that we have a clean t-shirt to wear to the kids' soccer practice, but we write it out in list form so that it doesn't feel like that's all we've done all day.

4 comments:

  1. I wouldn't feel to bad about how much TV your kids watch; I bet mine have you beat. I work from home and this summer I didn't put them in childcare at the YMCA like I did last year so while I work, they watch all the tv they want.
    To make me feel better about how much they watch I at least make them do all their chores first because I'm a good mom like that ha!
    Hope you all get well soon!

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  2. funny how you and i both wrote posts about lists. my motivation behind listmaking is that i might actually do half of what i write. then i post it on my blog so i have further motivation to do something and prove im not lazy. ps. when i took CPR in a group class it took like 2-3 hours. but now i do the coursework online and just go in for the skills test. then it only takes 30 minutes.

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    1. My guess is, if the are making him retake it even though his current certification is only about 6 months old, they probably wouldn't let him do it online, either. As long as he gets overtime for it (which he does), I don't care much. And, a 2-3 hour long class for him means about 1-2 hours of me time after the kids go to bed. Whoop!

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  3. hah see this is what i meant by my other comment. cuz #2 and #3 of your first list are pretty much on my list every day. But seeing you write it out on a list makes me feel not so bad that I do the same thing! And I agree, I recently started following 2 separate blogs (for various reasons) and they do this "goals for the week" thing that really gives off the "i'm-a-supermom" aura. I liked your assessment of said list-makers.

    When I make lists, I make it a point to never put anything on it that's categorized as a "never-ending" task. Such as changing diapers, mopping, vacuuming, laundry, or dishes. I keep a list for stuff that I can actually complete and not have to do again for a while (like replacing the mini-blinds, cleaning the guest-room, changing air filters, mailing packages, etc) and I also keep a separate list for blog posts I want to write and video montages I want to do. The secret about that list I consider myself successful even if only half of them actually get written. My blog consists of that half of the list, plus the other random posts I come up with on the fly (and those are usually the best).

    Anyway, love this post...just sayin...

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