THE NOT SO STAY-AT-HOME MOM
By Cynthia Grimm/ info@longislandernews.com

Decisions, Decisions…

Ok, I think I've just hit a major turning point in my life.

Right there, in the back-to-school supplies aisle of Target, after mildly freaking out over the student day planners, I came to an epiphany.

I am just not ready for a prime time planner.

Now for most of you, this wouldn’t even be an issue. But I, you see, am an entirely neurotic organizational fiend. The search for a day planner is no mere errand. It takes weeks of research and traveling to various stationary stores to test drive the most deserving of models. And let me just say now, to the companies that insist on making those “undated” planners so they can sell them at full price any time of year…cut it out. Don’t get me all excited about your pretty fabric covers only to then see that I will have to take three weeks out of my life to fill in all the dates you were too lazy to print.

But I digress.

Why am I shopping for a day planner in August you might ask? Well. Because. This year, I didn’t get a day planner. I had downsized my life to the point where there was work and home and not much else. In other words, it was bliss. There were no appointments, no scheduling, it was lovely.

Of course, in the back of my mind, I was thinking maybe I should at least have a calendar or something to write down the occasional doctor’s appointment, vet visit, or evening out with the girls. I mean, I’m not a savage. And now this summer, with Charlie in camp, soccer and swimming, AND me getting back into the art world and trying to remember grant deadlines and art openings…let’s just say I used my lifeline.

The planner of choice, as touted on all the 30-something talk shows, the mommy websites and the like, was the MomAgenda. For a mere $42, this literally novel-sized endeavor had spaces for your activities, kid’s activities, hopes and dreams, even dinner menus. After picking out the perfect pink one, I somehow just couldn’t do it. Was it just too June Cleaver? Or could it be, it was too much planner for me? And $42?!?

So there I was in Target, with the $4.99 Five Star student planner in my hand (pink at least) that would start in August and take me through 18 gloriously planned months. After arguing with myself to hold out for the grownup, expensive leather-trimmed “agenda,” I finally broke down and bought the spiral planner of my youth. So what if I have to rip out the class schedule pages; the weights and measures page might come in handy someday.

I may be a mom, but I don’t think that’s my whole agenda.