Passing on my Anal-ness

I don't know if "anal-ness" is really in the genes, or if it is possible to create and foster that in your children, but either way, Kendyll has a smidge of it from me. (Okay, maybe a little more than a smidge). All of you who know me, know that my lists and schedules are sacred to me, and are, at times, way out of control. I thrive on a schedule, enjoy order, predictability, and am a master at making any kind of list. For example, right now, I have lists sitting on my nightstand that are "still in progress", including my trip to Target later today, vacation ideas for our cruise coming up in a few months, my summer projects to be completed, ideas for Carlie's 2nd birthday, books Kendyll has read on her own, and VBS suggestions for next year. And, those are just from this last week. :)

For the last two years I have also been making a "summer schedule" for our house. I know...so many of you are laughing right now. And, I can understand why. "Summer" should never be used in the same sentence with "schedule", but at our house it is.

My intentions behind these schedules, are to maintain order in our lives, and not let our time "waste" away in the summer months. I found last year that I was allowing the TV to run all day long, and felt like many of my days were aimless, without a beginning or end. I wanted to start scheduling in quiet time for me, as well as one-on-one time with each child, so that I would really do it. Plus, the schedule helps cut down on the "What are we doing now?" and "I'm so bored!" comments that I was getting often from my oldest daughter who is used to lots of fun activities and places to go during the school year.

Last summer, I did this as an experiment...and Kendyll LOVED it. I would even say that she loved it more than I did! Throughout the day, she would ask "What does my schedule say?" or "Is it art time now?" or even "Is it time for me to have Mommy playtime now?" It was amazing to see how much this helped both of us know what was coming next, and it especially helped me to be accountable to my little three year old schedule-nazi for our one-on-one time or Bible Story time or even our grocery store time. (See what I mean?! I have created a carbon copy of me!)

So, now that our VBS crazy month is over, I have designed our new version for 2006 Summer. We printed it out and hung it by the back door. Kendyll can now read alot of what it says, so she is soaking it in and loving it already. She helped me decide ideas for what our special activity time would be each day, and we have all kinds of plans to make new kinds of cookies, make crafts, and make our own storybooks, just to name a few.

Even today, I have reaped many benefits of my anal-ness. One of the blessings was my one-on-one playtime with Carlie while Kendyll got to watch one TV show. I realized how long it had been since I played with JUST Carlie for 30 minutes straight. It was priceless. She is growing up so fast and we had so much fun playing baby dolls, learning colors, and reading at least 25 books. Why don't I do that more? Why do I let my daily to-do list involve everything BUT my kids sometimes...when my first and foremost job is to be Mommy? I keep getting re-determined not to be like that, and I'm hoping that this schedule will help me be more about them and less about me...at least for a couple of months.

Of course, we won't follow this every day, but for now, it makes all of us happier people. Especially my four year old, who, at this rate, will be making to-do lists by the age of six.