Planning, Priorities and Pancakes for Dinner

Now that I’m over a month into my fall semester of graduate school, I’m beginning to feel the pressure and anxiety that goes along with homework reading and assignments.  Add to that my work and family obligations.  Specifically I’m thinking about my daughter’s second grade learning, her extracurricular activities, my family meals to plan, an upcoming birthday celebration, two papers I must write, two presentations I must give and holiday gatherings and…. Well, you can see why my head is starting to spin.

On Wednesday night, I received a text message from my daughter’s teacher around 7:00 p.m. reminding me about parent-teacher conferences the next day, Thursday, October 1.  Wait, what? I had it written down for Friday.  Surely she was mistaken…

No, she wasn’t.  That was me.  I wrote down the appointment on the wrong date.  I wanted to scream.  This was the second time last week something like this happened.

Deep breath in.  Deep  breath out. Take a step back. Stretch.

Whew!  I’m okay.

That’s what I said to myself. After a few minutes (or hours), I believed it.

What was happening to my ability to plan?  I used to be so organized.  I had a lot to juggle but I’ve managed before.

What did I need to do today versus tomorrow versus next week?  I had to start up my list again and prioritize.

A friend told me about a planner she bought to help keep her hectic family schedule on track.  I decided to look into one for myself.  I also thought about how I felt frumpy and unprepared going to meetings with various folders, papers and books while using older tote bags or conference purses I had in the back of my closet.  So I spent some money to purchase a professional-looking briefcase bag that can hold all my work items and didn’t make me look like I was carrying an out-dated diaper bag.

Those two purchases alone cheered me up, almost instantly.  If I spent the extra dollars, then I would use the items to my advantage.  They should help me keep my important things and my calendar all in one place (and no, I don’t want to use my phone as my life planner).

On Saturday I had intended to complete a lot of homework so I could have fun and relax on Sunday.  Well, that didn’t happen.  Instead my girls and I went have hair cuts.  I colored mine as well since the gray roots were showing.  Next I grabbed coffee and spent a half-hour people watching.  Later I visited the farmers market and a neighbor who sells fresh eggs.  The weather turned cooler and it was so nice outside.  So that evening I begged my husband to grill burgers for dinner.  Since he’s amazing and I’m convincing, he obliged me. While he cooked, I played outside with my girls, pushing them on the swings. That night I suggested a family movie we could all watch.  There went the entire day…no school work accomplished. Oh well, there is always Sunday.

So, on Sunday I woke up and performed a yoga routine. After that the family decided that they wanted to go out for breakfast. I was able to squeeze in reading of my class’s book chapter in the car and while waiting for our food to arrive at the restaurant. Following that we did shoe shopping for our daughters.  My seven year old had holes in the bottom of her shoes and she really needed a new pair.  Luckily after two stores, we found a perfect fit for her.

By the time I arrived home, it was after 11 o’clock.  Okay, time to focus on school work. What did I need to do before my next class?  I had a proposal to write.  I had a rough draft. Now I needed to formalize it and find a case study to coincide with it.

The hard part was planting my butt into that desk chair for a solid two hours to accomplish this task.  The challenge was to not let myself become distracted by other things, like social media or my daughters playing outside or a stack of laundry I hadn’t folded yet or four spaghetti-squash sitting in the oven cooled, not yet cooked.

But I did it.  I completed the proposal, read through it several times and felt good about the results.  I needed to read one more chapter by Tuesday but I could break up that reading over the next three days.

I finished the important class work that had to be done.  Then I realized I had other duties I wanted to fulfill before the weekend ended…one more meal to cook, a jog around the neighborhood and a blog post (this one) to write.

I remind myself that I cannot do it all, especially not within one day or a weekend.  Often when I look at the list of ten things I need to finish, I become overwhelmed and frustrated. But if I step back, breath or force my butt into a chair for designated time frame, I can complete that small thing and then move on after that.

I’m also trying to say “yes” more to my kids, especially when they make small, simple requests.  Two nights ago, my oldest daughter asked me to make pancakes for dinner.  Sure, why not?  I said.  I could not think of one reason I should not consider her reasonable plea.  Pancakes are easy and quick to make.  I had all the ingredients. I create them using a healthy method. I knew both kids would eat every last bite of them instead of me coaxing them through a meal of chicken and vegetables.

An hour ago my children asked me to paint.  Painting can be messy.  This is an activity we parents want to encourage but truthfully, we hate to clean up after.  But I said yes.  I sent them outside since it’s a beautiful, cool fall day to let them make a mess all over the patio.  After all the paint can be easily washed down…just like them in the shower.

Are you like me – lost in the busy-ness of it all?  So what can we do?  What can we say yes to?  Try saying yes to the planning – because it will make your life easier.  Say yes to determining the priorities. This will keep us on track and help us reach our goals.  Then by all means, say yes to pancakes for dinner, maybe even once a week.

By doing those three things, I was able to sit and type up this blog post to share.  I am also able to keep my sanity while having some fun despite the total chaos that I often let creep in.