Staying a Step Ahead

See what happens when you go on Spring Break and have some blog posts already prewritten? You start to get back into the swing of things, and because you have not had to blog for awhile, it goes completely off the radar. UGH. I hate it when I do that!

I've been on a simplicity bend for sometime now, and I'm starting to see some improvement. I'm pretty excited about that because it is giving me time to actually focus on things I love, rather than doing things to get them done and move on to the next task, completely unfulfilled in my work. One thing that has made some difference is I've started looking at my week before I get to my week. About Wed, I start mentally prepping for the next week. Not anything big, just thinking out which days are my longer days, which days I will have time to write, days the kids will need me a little more, how I will fit in the grocery shopping, cleaning, running by the bank and all of those other errands, let alone teach class and lessons. And I've also started setting realistic expectations. I'm sad it took me so long to realize I'm NOT Superwoman and I can't get it all done in one day. I could have saved myself a lot of frustration.

Another thing I've been making myself do is not wait until the last minute to find my sitter. I do have a regular sitter (no, my students have NOT stolen her from me yet-HA!. . . see previous Thursday post) and she is like clockwork. But here in our wonderful school district, school closes more often than the bank and post office combined. Seriously. For instance, we JUST had Spring Break at the beginning of the month. They were off the Friday before an entire week of being off. This week, we have a half day on Thursday, Good Friday off AND the Monday after Easter. It's no wonder they have a hard time retaining what they are learning. We keep taking days off! The parents, however, do NOT have those days off, so I go directly to my Caregiver Organizer and pull out THE LIST. Yes, THAT list. The sacred Babysitter List with all of my phone numbers on it. (You wouldn't believe how many people have asked me for a copy of that list. Yeah. . . Not.On.Your.LIFE!) But it's one thing in a huge mess of a chaotic schedule I can control. Go to the book. Get the list. Make the calls.

I love my organizer. It's helping me keep my sanity.

Well, some days anyway. Wait 'til you read my Friday Funny. It will help you understand why I've got this little tic. . .

Yours, covering Good Friday and Easter Monday,

Melissa