The Mom Weekly Volume 76: January 21, 2025
You can read this, or any other previous Mom Weeklies, by going to the home page here.
In Praise of the “Completed” List
I’m sure I am not the only one who has multiple running to-do lists. I have mine both in my head and written down, either on paper or in my treasured ToDoist app.
I am that person who adds things to her to do list after completing, so that I can cross them off. It’s that satisfying for me.
And yet, I often feel like I’m not really making progress, especially when it comes to things around the house. Part of that is the nature of keeping a household running smoothly. If you vacuum, it’s going to need it again very soon, and it’s not quite as satisfying as a one-and-done project. But as I go through the house, I typically see things that I keep “meaning” to do, from touching up paint, to organizing a room, and so on. Whenever I’m going around the house, I find myself saying, “I need to get to … (insert small project here).”
Over the last week, I’ve accomplished three small projects that happen to be related. And I realized, not for the first time, how celebrating our small accomplishments helps to make you happier and more productive.
Here’s the story: Months ago, I purchased a top-down/bottom-up shade (like this one) to go in Dad’s library. He wanted the ability to see the sky but also giving him some privacy. We kept saying to each other, “We have to put that shade up.”
Finally, we set upon a time earlier last week. (That’s another tip—scheduling a time to do a specific project greatly increases the chances you will get to it!). And while Dad went through some things and books in his office, I took off the old shade, and installed the new one, without too much drama. Because I don’t do it very often, I read the instructions really carefully and spent extra time. It felt great to accomplish it!
I saved the shade in order to install it in the garage, where there was a window without a shade. I put the shade on top of the dryer in the laundry room, and made a mental note to get to it “soon.”
The Plot Thickens
A couple of mornings later, I was opening the floral shade in the laundry room. You may remember it had a weird cord to raise and lower the shade. And … it broke. I was so annoyed!
I got out the ladder to take a look at it, and see if I could fix it. It was the oddest contraption, and took awhile to disassemble. And, for good or ill, it could not be fixed, which kind of made me glad.
I was heading out, and so stopped at Menard’s and get a new shade. They had one just like I wanted.
When I got home, I started to work on installing it. Feeling confident from my installation of the library shade, I promptly installed the brackets upside down. So annoying!
When I discovered my mistake, I also realized that the screws that came with the shade were those evil screws that immediately “strip” when you start to install them (even though I was using a manual screwdriver, not an electric drill). So getting them off was quite the ordeal, and I was cursing whoever creates those awful screws!!!
Fortunately, I was able to find “just” enough high-quality screws in our tool box , and installed the brackets correctly, put up the shade, and consigned the awful fasteners to the trash.
And then, I told myself, I am not going to wait another minute to install that shade in the garage, because I don’t want to forget how to do it! I was able to install that shade correctly, and in much less time as the first two, because I had the memory of how to do it.
The “Things I’ve Completed” Photo Album
After this was all completed, I took photos to memorialize all my great work (see several of the photos in this week’s graphic). And then I realized how happy it made me to do that.
So, that’s the plan in coming weeks. I will take a before/ after photo of different projects that I want to do, and then celebrate them.
To aggregate these, there is a new album in my Photos called “Things I’ve Completed.” I’m going to come up with a better name for it, but I don’t like the typical expression “Ta-Da List” l. If you have any better suggestions for what to call it, I want to know! And let me know good things that you have accomplished.
Remember how much I love you,
Mom
Interesting/Notable:
Fighting the Devil with a Spatula—Meredith Hinds
I’m not sure how I came across this article. But it’s related to what I wrote this week, a great reminder that the “small steps” are a great way to complete things. And that thanking yourself for taking them is a good (and spiritual) practice! Here’s an excerpt:
So, what small step could I take regarding small steps? Well, in my fancy new 2025 planner, the first resolution I wrote down was, “I will honor small steps.”
Then I realized how much I sounded like a yoga instructor. Honor? By doing what? I scratched that out and wrote, “I will thank myself for taking small steps.”
This is a trip. You should try it.
“Thank you for throwing away three eggshells.”
“Thank you for picking up the paper scrap off the floor.”
“Thank you for making the bed.”
I didn’t realize how little positive internal feedback I had going around upstairs until I really started making a point of it.
An Action Item: Drink A Big Glass of Water First Thing in the Morning
Everyone knows how much I enjoy drinking water, but the cold weather recently has made drinking water less appealing for me. This is probably because I love my water with ice, and it just isn’t as much fun to drink when it’s below zero outside! But staying hydrated, especially in colder, drier weather, with dry heat, is even more important this time of year.
I was having some digestive and other symptoms recently, and I thought it could be from not drinking enough water. So I’ve made a point the last week or so to drink an eight-ounce glass of water (or two) first thing in the morning. It has really helped, and I encourage you to do the same.