It's no secret (amongst family and friends and general acquaintances, of course) that I'm an enthusiastic mom who likes to plan. If I have a "thing," it's because I've made a pre-planned scheduled meticulously written in my planner, probably in purple pen and highlighted extensively. As such, I currently spend way more time than I care to admit, trying to balance my planning tendencies with my toddler’s tendencies to not care at all about what I've planned. Still, while it can be difficult, I've realized that women who are aggressive planners make the best moms. I mean, not to toot my own horn or anything, but more often than not, I got this 'ish on lock.
Sure, sometimes my perfect plans are thrown out the window by my kid, and sometimes the plans I spent endless hours making never come to fruition because I'm exhausted or overwhelmed or just no longer in the mood. However, I have found that my need to constantly plan has kept myself, my kid and essentially my entire family on task and in a better position to make it through any day with minimal mishaps. In fact, my constant planning is a lot like a birth plan; you want to be as structured and prepared as possible, but the possibility of deviation is high and, well, you kind of have to just go with the flow.
I might bet playfully made fun of for my purple pens and my extensive plans, but I’ve found that being an super-enthusiastic planner has positively affected my parenting in the following ways (so, you know, thank you purple pen):
We Have Considered Almost All Possible Scenarios
I used to travel extensively for work, and a colleague of mine once joked about how I might handle any problems on the road. Turns out, I didn't sweat it nearly as much as she expected because of the awesome planning I'd done (and had loved doing). While I had a schedule in mind, I also I left room for the unexpected because, well, that's how fantastic a planner I am. That's the thing about planners. People think we're rigid, but most of us have totally penciled in, like, 17 minutes of fun per day!
We Have All The Things
Scissors? Check. Pens? Check. Extra notebooks? Check. Stickers? Check. Washi Tape? Oh, yes. Very much check. Basically, if you need to do a craft project with zero technology, we've got you covered.
Our Supplies Double As Toys
Speaking of supplies, I can't tell you the number of times I've offered my son a roll of Washi tape. I mean, it's colorful, it's round, it's sticky so what toddler wouldn't love it?
It's Really Easy To Plan Playdates With Us Because We Always Have Our Schedule Locked Down
Shall we schedule our play date for the third Tuesday in August at 9:00? Great, that'll work. I just have something at 11:00, and I can't change it, because I already moved it twice.
We Can Make A Plan For Everything
Are we already booked? No problem, we can look at a different day. Are mornings or afternoons better? Do we need to check the moon cycle? The weather? The likelihood that Netflix will be releasing another season of The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt? I've got it all right here.
We're Never Not Prepared...
In fact, not only are we absolutely prepared for anything that our kid may or may not need, but we probably have stuff in case your kid needs something, too. Did you forget to pack wipes? Oh, I have you covered. Did you forget to pack a snack? Here, have a choice from my stash. Did you need an extra pair of clothes? Don't worry, I brought four.
...So We're Always Calm, Even During A "Surprise"
Because we've planned for everything and left room for the unexpected and are fully prepared to handle any and all situations, we rarely lose our cool. We don't feel overwhelmed, we feel like, well, maybe we just need to change our plans. If one plan falls by the wayside, it just means another one needs to be made and, well, you know we're ready to accommodate.
