This one's for you, List Lovers

This morning Matt emailed me this link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8537856.stm. It's an article about an exhibition about the art of list-making. I decided to pass it along, since I know how much many of my friends love to make lists.

I, too, have historically been a List Lover. One of those people who likes making lists just for the sake of having a list, and someone who puts an item on a list- even if it's something already taken care of- just so I can cross it off the list. In my pre-parenthood life, I enjoyed making to-do lists, packing/shopping lists, pro and con lists to help me make a decision, and lists of things to remember to say in a difficult and/or important conversation.

I have noticed that since becoming a mom my listmaking has changed somewhat. I still make to do lists and packing/shopping lists... mostly because I NEED them now, or else I will inevitably forget to schedule that child well-check, leave the underwear out of the suitcase, or come home from the grocery store with everything except my main ingredient for tonight's dinner. Gone are the days when I was so with it upstairs that I could write a list and never need to look at it again (because I had it memorized).

For the most part, parenthood has cured me of the compulsion to write pro-con lists and lines of logic to use in conversation. I suppose it isn't JUST parenthood that gets the credit-- maybe there's some plain old maturity as well as my part in an increasingly postmodern culture in there too. But being a mom has helped me chill out and be ok with some disorder, disarray, and, um, near chaos at times. Thus I generally have less of a need to feel in control all of the time- something the article mentions as often characteristic of list writers. Parenthood (and, again, probably other things too) has also helped me realize that it's often ok to trust my gut feelings. I don't need a rational explanation for everything I decide. I don't have to tally up the pro and con columns (and the values assigned to each item) to figure out what to do. I actually like to decide things based on what FEELS right. It's the new postmodern mommy Robyn.

Oh, and there are also plenty of days now when it's hard to even take the time to write out a list!

Maybe someday I will be able to think clearly enough to no longer need ANY kind of list... but I really doubt it.

PS. So I re-read what I wrote above, and I want to add that in no way do I mean to imply that people who don't make lists are more mature than those who do... I really have no problem with lists (and the people who love to make them)! All I wanted to do was comment that my listmaking habits have changed over the past few years. No judgments of others here! Maybe if I had listed out my points ahead of time, I would have written more clearly ;)