A life of lists
I am so ready for summer. Or should I say I'm ready for summer weather. Definitely not ready for the events this summer, mainly Ainsley's 1st birthday. Wait, hold-up, rewind. Ainsley's 1st birthday? For real? Where the heck did this year go!? I seriously wish I could stop time and keep her a baby a little while longer.
But unfortunately, that's not the case, and therefore I've gotta get going on my loooooong list of things to do to keep up with her growing. I've noticed that a lot of people post their to-do lists on their blogs and I am fighting the urge to do the same because frankly, it would be just too depressing. My list is never-ending and grows more than it shrinks. So instead, I'll keep my to-do list on my phone in my shared reminders with my husband, who I drive absolutely crazy with my lists. Poor guy. How does he put up with me?
In the first few weeks after Ainsley was born, I experienced a bit of post-partem crazyness that I hear is frequently diagnosed as Post Partem Depression. For me, however, it was more like post-partem mania/anxiety/moodiness rather than depression. I was not depressed, just anxious, excited and way too ambitious to try and get my life in some sort of order. And that, my friends, is pretty close to impossible to do right after you have a baby. Anyway, I went crazy making lists of things I wanted to do while on maternity leave and got frustrated when things weren't getting done, because, oh that's right, I just had a baby! Well, in my late night readings I came across some post somewhere that said new mom's should make "I've done" lists instead of "To do" lists. I thought that was a great idea and I still love it.
So it's 1pm on one of my days off and here's my list for the day (I should note that I started this post almost a month ago, and found it pretty ironic that pretty accurately pertains to my life right now).
1. Woke up after a long night of Ainsley waking up twice. Both times I nursed her and put her back to bed.
2. Made breakfast. Tried and failed at getting Ainsley to eat. (She had the choice of oatmeal, english muffin, banana pancake and frozen mangos.) She had a few bites of the pancake. That's it. Arg.
3. Put strings on a baby bonnet I made while Ainsley played.
4. Tried and failed at putting Ainsley down for her morning nap. Normally, I would not even include this item in my "I've done" list, but it was pretty much took up my entire morning - Read her a few books, nursed her, put her down, left the room, showered, she was still awake and miserable when I got out, so at that point I just gave up and brought her back downstairs for more playtime.
5. Eventually when she did fall asleep (at 11:30) I was able to get more done. Still not that impressive, but it's something: unloaded the dishwasher
6. Moved along the laundry
7. Washed the kitchen floor
8. Farted around on Facebook and Pinterest
8. Wrote the rest of this blog post
9. And she's awake… So there you have it, my "I've done" list for half of my day off.
"I've done" lists make me feel far more accomplished than my "To do" lists. I mean really, this was one of those days I felt like I did nothing and yet somehow there are 9 items on my list and I still have a whole half of a day to go. Pretty awesome.
But unfortunately, that's not the case, and therefore I've gotta get going on my loooooong list of things to do to keep up with her growing. I've noticed that a lot of people post their to-do lists on their blogs and I am fighting the urge to do the same because frankly, it would be just too depressing. My list is never-ending and grows more than it shrinks. So instead, I'll keep my to-do list on my phone in my shared reminders with my husband, who I drive absolutely crazy with my lists. Poor guy. How does he put up with me?
In the first few weeks after Ainsley was born, I experienced a bit of post-partem crazyness that I hear is frequently diagnosed as Post Partem Depression. For me, however, it was more like post-partem mania/anxiety/moodiness rather than depression. I was not depressed, just anxious, excited and way too ambitious to try and get my life in some sort of order. And that, my friends, is pretty close to impossible to do right after you have a baby. Anyway, I went crazy making lists of things I wanted to do while on maternity leave and got frustrated when things weren't getting done, because, oh that's right, I just had a baby! Well, in my late night readings I came across some post somewhere that said new mom's should make "I've done" lists instead of "To do" lists. I thought that was a great idea and I still love it.
So it's 1pm on one of my days off and here's my list for the day (I should note that I started this post almost a month ago, and found it pretty ironic that pretty accurately pertains to my life right now).
1. Woke up after a long night of Ainsley waking up twice. Both times I nursed her and put her back to bed.
2. Made breakfast. Tried and failed at getting Ainsley to eat. (She had the choice of oatmeal, english muffin, banana pancake and frozen mangos.) She had a few bites of the pancake. That's it. Arg.
3. Put strings on a baby bonnet I made while Ainsley played.
4. Tried and failed at putting Ainsley down for her morning nap. Normally, I would not even include this item in my "I've done" list, but it was pretty much took up my entire morning - Read her a few books, nursed her, put her down, left the room, showered, she was still awake and miserable when I got out, so at that point I just gave up and brought her back downstairs for more playtime.
5. Eventually when she did fall asleep (at 11:30) I was able to get more done. Still not that impressive, but it's something: unloaded the dishwasher
6. Moved along the laundry
7. Washed the kitchen floor
8. Farted around on Facebook and Pinterest
8. Wrote the rest of this blog post
9. And she's awake… So there you have it, my "I've done" list for half of my day off.
"I've done" lists make me feel far more accomplished than my "To do" lists. I mean really, this was one of those days I felt like I did nothing and yet somehow there are 9 items on my list and I still have a whole half of a day to go. Pretty awesome.
Aly this post is sooo cute! I love it as it brings me to memories of my own lists over the years....so funny how we're so much alike...hee-hee, I guess we would be seeing that you're my daughter. I just have to alight though thinking back a year ago to those to do lists that you actually started when you were in the hospital. They were not only your lists but mine and everyone else's around you. It was so crazy and what you were expecting from us was outrageous. We didn't sit for nothing! But then I think now at how frustrated you must've been with your inability to do it all yourself. After all you just had major surgery, lack of sleep, a nursing baby that was hard to latch and carpal tunnel in your hands( notice I said hands)
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