The Done List: June 9

When I finished my business day today, I still had 6 hours worth of work left to do and a houseful of kids terrified that if they let go of me for even a second I'd vanish back to the mystical place known as Paris.

Needless to say, the kids came first.

I got back to work eventually but was distinctly lacking motivation. That's what happens when you feel you've accomplished nothing. So I squeezed in a break (I'm exceptionally good at taking breaks) and wrote this. Quickly - so it's wordy and poorly edited. I'll come back and do a proper and obsessive edit when my brain is working.

So here it is, my Done List. Like a To Do list, only better. A To Do list is all about the things you haven't done yet and get to feel guilty about. A Done List, on the other hand, is the things you actually did.

In the end, writing it down proved to me I had not spent my day in vain and provided the motivating sense of accomplishment I needed to finally finish my work. Therapy by blog. Yay me.
And so ... Today's Done List

• Cuddled 2 terrified kids through the 5:30 a.m. unleashing of unholy hell from the skies.
• Got clothes-hating 3-year-old dressed for the day. Notable because most days he walks to school in his pajamas.
• Managed to get shorts for 10-year-old into dryer in time for him to wear them to school. They were only a bit damp. Gave him hug for ignoring mom's inadequate housekeeping.
• Saw 3 kids out the door to school. Allowed 3-year-old to leave house wearing sandals with socks because it made him happy. Gave him special kissing hand.
• Made and drank life-giving coffee.
• Earned money to pay mortgage by working demanding job.
• Paid mortgage.
• Ate lunch, as proper nutrition is critical in preventing late-night chocolate binges.
• Washed 6 loads of laundry. Since it's all piled, unfolded, on my bed, I am about to go sleep on it.
• Realized I’d scheduled critical meetings in the middle of 10-year-old's graduation from 5th grade. Which is tomorrow. Frantically rearranged calendar to take morning off.
• Cuddled 2 terrified kids through the second unleashing of unholy hell from the skies, then engaged DVD player in hopes of maintaining sufficient physical separation to cook a meal.
• Made spaghetti dinner with only three meatballs and no ground anything in the house. Convinced children to eat every bite, including scary green peas. Rewarded them with duty-free German chocolates and YouTube videos.
• Boogied with 3-year-old to the Hamster Dance and the Chipmunks’ rendition of Cotton-Eyed Joe and tried to teach diva to snap.
• Supervised writing of thank you notes for teachers. Praised Aspie for writing 7 of them. By hand. Without dictation. Yes, I said 7.
• Praised diva for creating letter so touching her teacher will cry, and – more importantly – for proper use of the subjunctive. A grammar prodigy if ever there was one. Or rather, were. See what I mean? It's hard for adults, and my girl's got it nailed.
• Bragged about grammatically talented daughter on Facebook.
• Supervised 3 delightfully cheerful and independent children through bedtime. Helped 3-year-old get redressed after he soaked himself to the skin washing his hands.
• Simultaneously helped diva sound out the long words in Animal Ark chapter book (hard book - it's British), read But Not The Hippopotamus to preschooler who insisted “that’s not a hippopotamus, it’s a hippo,” and ignored 10-year-old playing video games when he was meant to be reading. The kid reads plenty.
• Distributed hugs and kisses, sprayed anti-monster "spray" around room to protect children from bumpy night-time things, addressed bedtime angst in 10-year-old, promised to check on diva "till the sun comes up," and allowed 3-year-old to hold my bellybutton until he fell asleep. Still don’t know why he does that.
• Bonded with amazing au pair who makes my life easier, in hopes she will like me enough to continue doing so.
• Confirmed details of baseball game for 15 au pairs + 3 kids on Sunday, while doing research on possible nature-themed outing for family + guest on Saturday.
• Went back to work. Wrote detailed article on difficult concept I did not fully understand and brazenly sent it off for review at 3:57 a.m.
  
• Posted totally unnecessary blog entry so as to further delay sleep.

Not too shabby for nearly 23 straight hours of awake. Bed now. Must be cheery, showered and dressed for 5th grade graduation in the morning!
Note: getting dressed appears nowhere on this list. I spent the whole day in my pajamas.
[Also, thanks to judicious editing, you are getting only half the list my sleep-deprived brain drafted in the wee hours of this morning. Scary thought.]
PS - Apologies here because I may have stolen the "Done List" concept from the Yarn Harlot - see blog list at right - whom I admire for more than her amazing knitting skills and creative pseudonym. Too fuddle-brained at this hour to remember for sure.