CHAOS TO COMFORT · NOTES FROM MOM LIFE
I went to the store for milk and came home with everything except milk. I did remember that somebody needs bigger shoes, though. It would be helpful if I remembered which somebody.
A little less to remember
Open Lists on your phone and jot it down while it’s still on your mind.
CHAOS TO COMFORT
Lists
For my little one
- New mittens
- Bigger shoes · size 8
- Spare pyjamas
Example of a list you can keep on your phone
With three boys, there’s always something I’m supposed to remember later. A daycare form. A snack we’re almost out of. A pair of shoes that fit yesterday and apparently belong to a much smaller child today. None of it takes very long on its own. Remembering all of it while I’m doing something else is the part that gets me.
Give the little things somewhere to go
I already make my weekly menu on Fridays, so I’m borrowing the same idea for the things I need to buy for the boys. One note, one spot for each kid. When I notice someone needs something, I can write it down right then. If it’s shoes, I put the size beside it, because ‘buy shoes’ is exactly the kind of helpful note that sends me to the store with another question.
I like separating what we need this week from what can wait. We need mittens before the next cold morning. We can wait to replace the spare pyjamas. And the dinosaur that ‘needs a brother’ can take its chances with Santa.
The list can help someone else help
A list also makes it easier to hand over a whole errand. ‘Can you check his shoe size and pick up a pair this week?’ is a lot clearer than ‘We need shoes.’ Whoever takes it can check the size, make the trip, and cross it off. I don’t have to remember to remember it for both of us.
If your own list is currently spread across three sticky notes and a text you sent yourself, start with the one thing you keep remembering at the wrong time. Write it somewhere you’ll actually look. That counts.
Remembered it? Write it down right then.
This is exactly why I put lists in my Chaos to Comfort app. When I’m standing in the daycare parking lot and suddenly remember somebody needs new mittens, I can open the app on my phone, go to Lists, and write it under his name. It takes a few seconds, and next time I’m at the store, I can pull up the list and see what I actually came for.
Because “I’ll remember when I get home” is a very optimistic thing to say when three people are already asking what’s for dinner.
Open the free Chaos to Comfort app →
Mine says ‘milk’ at the top. In all caps. Let’s see if that does it.
