How to: Make Lists and Accomplish Things

Wake up motivated. Make a to-do list. Make a checklist. Make a grocery list. Make a reading list. Make any other kind of list you can think of. Pick a list and start with the easiest task on it. Check it off. Continue on to the next easiest task. Check that off. Continue in a similar manner until you've checked off everything on your list. Move on to another list. Do not forget to intermittently pause and check on the baby! That’s important. If you finish everything on every list, make more lists.*

Work. Check.  Work. Check. Wor…Pause! The baby is crying. Feed him lunch. Forget to eat. Make a bottle and put the baby in his crib with it. He needs to wash down that pancake. Get back to work! Work. Check. Work. Check. Wor…Pause! The baby isn’t crying. All is quiet. You should be suspicious now.

Slowly crack the door and peek in the baby’s room. Catch him standing in his crib with the curtains pushed aside and his precious little face smashed against the window. Notice how he is wistfully watching the world outside, wishing he was a part of it. Feel like a horrible, neglectful mother. Put down the endless lists.

Take off your yoga pants. Put on your jeans. Dress the baby in warm clothes and a hat. Dig the stroller from the dark recesses of your messy garage. Ignore the spiders and weird smells. If you find this difficult, just remind yourself that you’re doing this for your son and that makes it worth it.

Walk around the neighborhood and soak in the sunshine. Soak in your baby’s joy. Feel refreshed by the crisp autumn air. Let your baby’s smile fall over you like a veil, erasing every other item on your lists. You didn’t accomplish all you'd planned, but you did something more important. 

*Note that this event is unlikely. You made a lot of lists.