List maker, List maker, make me a list...

I am a chronic list maker. I like lists for everything...grocery lists; daily to-do lists; year long "project" lists; individual lists pertaining to each child. I need to compile a list...of my lists. There is something so utterly gratifying about crossing things off of my list(s)! This is because by my nature, I love organization, neatness; I strongly dislike clutter and disorder. So, needless to say, my lifestyle and surroundings are a constant "challenge" for me. I find all of these mindless daily duties more and more difficult to keep on top of, and myself caring less and less about it. I literally have to convince myself to let some of the little things go, which is difficult for an anal retentive, passive aggressive, borderline OCD gal like myself.

Children come with a certain degree of mess...I realize this, and have attempted to adjust myself accordingly. I've grown to accept the Fisher Price Lil' People and Littlest Pet Shop accouterments being deeply embedded in the bottom of my foot as I try to simply walk across the floor. The fact that Shannon likes to use every washcloth in the house as "blankies" for her little dolls and animals; I have convinced myself this is adorable (until I have no washcloth to use during my weekly shower...). Playdoh, hey, it's so beneficial for the kids both creatively and for use in motor skill development, it HAS to be a good thing...even if it is stuck all over my floors, table and feet. Crayola now makes washable markers, so no difference if the walls, doors, tables, children and their clothes are colored from top to bottom...hell, Gianna even colored her lips red for her first day of kindergarten (which I did appreciate her choice to go with Really Red as opposed to Gothic Black), no worries, it washes right off. As you can see, I'm not too rigid to be flexible here. I have actually learned to find these types of messes "Livable".

So now I find myself attempting to distinguish the often fine line between what is disgusting, and what is livable...prioritize Jackie!! The bathrooms alone in my house, for example, are enough to make me turn my efforts to the more productive and sanitary prospect of digging my own grave...cuz when dirt, sweat, worms and bugs seem more appealing to me, you know it's bad! So the bathrooms, with their pee covered toilets and baseboards; their toothpaste and spit globbed sinks; their hand print covered mirrors and their soap scum coated shower walls containing the children's names...fall into the disgusting category, every day at some point in time. Okay, so how about a shit smear on Cam's sheets... it's down at the bottom where his feet will be, so disgusting or livable?? I'm going with disgusting on that one...excrement almost always falls into that category. As do regurgitated Goldfish Crackers, bananas, chicken nuggets or anything else Cameron might suddenly decide has no business being in his mouth (he actually gagged once when I came at him with a fresh warm cinnamon roll...who does that?) Ewww?? Perhaps, but this works to Blitzen "the garbage can" dog's advantage...the sound of Cameron's gagging is like the sound of a dinner bell to her...which saves me the time and hassle of cleaning up that mess (silver lining, there it is!). So I guess it is all just a matter of priorities...the difficulty is finding that balance between mine and the kids, as we are clearly at opposite ends of the continuum. So I'll handle this as I always do, by making another list...a priority list!!