The Unchecked List

Last Saturday was an interesting Saturday. It was one of those rare, beautiful days where I had nothing planned (scheduled), but planned to get everything done! Clean the house; finish laundry; paint shelves; hem cloth diapers... the things that have been requesting attention for days and weeks with little success. 

The morning started off well - I cleaned the kitchen and did a couple loads of laundry while Lily was napping, but somehow the day ended sooner than I had anticipated. By ten pm, the kitchen was a mess again, the laundry pile had somehow increased itself and I struggled to understand why I had barely accomplished anything.

Upon reflection, I realized why this had happened, and a change of expectations that might be useful for me. As a single person, prior to the past year and a half, I could make a list of 20 things and usually get half of them done on a Saturday. I'm not single anymore though. I think I forget that sometimes. 

Reviewing my day, I realized that while the shelves had not even been touched, I was able to cut Brant's hair. The cloth diapers still sat where they've been sitting for the past three weeks because instead of sewing, I was feeding, changing, bathing and playing with little Lily. The kitchen was a mess again because although it was literally sparkling that morning, I'd made lunch and hadn't cleaned up since. 

I'm learning that while the list of things I want to do is important, so are the things that occur that aren't on that list - especially when they involve helping others. And for me, life is not about a list - though I frequently forget that! The question I want to ask myself is, did I find joy in the day; joy in the life. If I hadn't cut Brant's hair, or bathed Lily or enjoyed a clean kitchen for 30 minutes and other things had come up, it still could have been a great day. It's okay for the list to go unchecked sometimes:)

Lily's new thing is taking her baths with her hands behind her head.