Recently I took my two-year-old grandson, Hudson, to get a haircut. The hairdresser asked him if he wanted to sit in a fire engine or a New York Taxi for the haircut. He chose the Taxi. With his head perfectly still while the scissors clipped away, we had the following conversation:
“Nannie, when we get through with my hair cut, can we go to the candy store?”
Ordinarily I would have told him that as soon as he popped out of that chair, we would head to the candy store, but I couldn’t today, because his mom had the candy store visit as a surprise for later in the day. So I said, “No, Hudson, we can’t go to the candy store.”
In his nicest voice he asked, “Well, Nannie, would you put it on your list?”
How could I possibly refuse? At two, he already knew the value of a list, especially my list. But I knew a secret that Hudson didn’t know. Back home my daughter, his mother, also knew the value of a list, and had the candy store on her list for later in the week. As they say, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” (In case you’re wondering, Hudson did get a grape sucker from the lady who cut his hair. I suppose she felt sorry for him because I denied him the trip to the candy store.)
Yes, I operate off a list. Actually, I operate off multiple lists. I have a list for things that need to be done for the nonprofit, Teach the Children International. I have a list for things that need to be done at home. I even categorize my lists for example, under my category of “Writing” I have a category for each book that I’m working on, that list would include marketing, contacts to make
Lists help me in a lot of other ways than just to jog my memory. When I check off a completed task, I get a great sense of accomplishment. Every now and then, I’ll do a task that wasn’t on my list, then add it, just so I can check it off. What can I say, I love my lists!