My DON’T DO LIST!

Monday, Monday

Those were the only words from the song I knew. I had to look it up on the internet to find out the whole song.

The last verse seems appropriate for the way I feel much of the time, but for a different reason than the singers were harmonizing over.

Mondays can make me wanna’ cry.

As I start a new week of routine and responsibilities,  it seems I’ll need more than a week just to handle all I need to do.

So, I can dread starting a new week because I  already feel defeated.

Sunday I began a list of things I HAD to do this week. I like to have an organized plan of attack to beat the Monster Monday hiding under my bed.

Spring is a very busy time of the year.  I am finishing up a school  year and planning another one.  We generally have a lot of wonderful company. It’s baseball and softball season.  We need to make summer plans for Bible camp work and family vacations.

This week I have phone calls I have to make and decisions that are nearing their deadlines. There are several things I cannot forget to do. These things can cause me just a little tension.

I did something different this week after making the TO DO LIST.

I made myself a DON’T DO LIST.

I am giving myself permission to ignore some things this week. It is humanly impossible to accomplish everything I need to do and want to do this spring,  so some things had to go. Also, the side projects can distract me from the things I really NEED to do.  In the end, this causes more stress than it relieves.

This week I am officially not going to:

*Dust my furniture. I didn’t know the men that installed my wood floors would be sawing in the house. I didn’t cover anything with sheets. It’s been a week, and I haven’t finished the dusting yet. I received an email forward that told me dust is supposed to be left to write love letters in. I’ll do that instead.

*Order books for school next year. I can start a jot list, but I do not have to order next week. Phew!

*Plant anything. I bought a basil over the weekend and was so excited to have it fresh for salads, but forgot to water it. It died before I could even name it. I am giving myself permission to walk past all the herbs and flowers and leave my pots bare for one more week. Garden dreams will satisfy that urge to dig in the dirt.

*Clean the garage. Some dear child of mine made a path through it by stacking stuff neatly. Works for me. I can easily wait for sunshine and summer to do a good job on this project. I will, though, label boxes and start filling them with things that need to leave this house.

*Plan extra school unit studies. I love to guilt myself over all the things I have planned to do and want to do but haven’t done them.  This week, I am going to let guilt rest. I give myself permission to just teach the normal subjects, do a good job, and love being with my kids.

*Plan gourmet or new meals. I need to utilize some things in the cupboards and in the freezer. I can feed healthy, substantial, creative meals with what I have. I’m not a contestant on Iron Chef, I’m a tired mom who needs to just make sure her kids are eating healthy.

I plan to attack that TO DO LIST little by little, with the help of the Lord.

I also give myself permission to tackle  any of the above projects IF and ONLY IF I have accomplished the TO DO ITEMS and am feeling energetic and ambitious.

Follow me to Nan’s to see how other Moms are starting their new week!