Things I Don't Do

A few days ago, I read an article called "Every Woman Has an 'I Don't' List. And it's Time We Shared Them."  A friend linked to it on Facebook, and I read it because I was having one of those days where I couldn't seem to get anything done, and I was bummed about that.

I have a fiery drive to Get Things Done.  You already know how much I love to-do lists.  Not only do I make seasonal to-do lists and share them here, I often have daily and weekly to-do lists that I'm working on.  In fact, I started using a bullet journal about a year go, just to keep my lists organized.

(This is my bullet journal.  I'm still using it.  It's still helping.)

The truth is, I am a very busy person.  I thrive on being busy.  I homeschool my 3 kids, I help run our homeschool co-op, I blog, I write regularly for both Femnista and the Prairie Times, I write novels and self-publish them... and I read about a book a week.  Oh, and I started a book club at church, I'm involved with Sunday school and VBS and the church choir.  I'm an active bookstagrammer.  I have a flower garden.  I usually have at least one crocheting or sewing project going.  And I watch at least one movie a week.  Writing all that up right now made me kinda tired, to be honest!  Wow.  I'm very busy.

The point of this post is not to praise myself for how much I accomplish, or how good I am at balancing things.  The point of this post is to answer that question that I get a lot, when people find out how busy I am.

HOW DO YOU DO ALL THAT?!?!?

The answer -- the very truthful, not necessarily flattering answer -- is that I do all that by NOT doing a ton of other things.  So, inspired by that article, here is my I Don't List.

+ I don't dust more than three or four times a year.
+ I don't sweep the kitchen more than once every week or two.
+ I don't mop.  (My husband does.)
+ I don't sweep the dining room.  (My daughter does.)
+ I don't do most of the laundry.  (My son does.)
+ I don't wake up at night to feed any babies.  (Anymore.)
+ I don't change diapers.  (Anymore.)
+ I don't breastfeed.  (Anymore.  Wow, babies take a lot of time and work, y'all.)
+ I don't get TV on my TV.  I watch DVDs, VHS tapes (so old-fashioned), and stuff on Amazon Prime Instant Video.  (If I'm watching a TV show or movie, it is very intentional.  It is not a way to kill time or have background noise or whatever.  Watching a show or a movie is an active pursuit for me, an activity, not a pastime.)
+ I don't clean my bathrooms every week.  (I have 4 bathrooms.  I rotate them, so they each get cleaned about every-other-week, but more often if they get gross, obviously.)
+ I don't scrub my shower regularly.  (I have a friend who scrubs her shower every week.  No thanks.  I don't have time.)
+ I don't make every meal from scratch.  (I love to cook.  I do cook supper from scratch several times a week, but lunches are usually pb&j or something from a box or can, plus fresh fruit or veggies.)
+ I don't bake my own bread.  (Very often.  Sometimes, but it's a treat.)
+ I don't grind my own grain.  (Stop rolling your eyes!  I know people who do.)
+ I don't make my own yogurt.  Or cheese.  (Those sound nifty, though!)
+ I don't sew my kids' clothes.  (My grandma sewed all my mom's clothes until my mom was a teen.  Dude.  Wow.)(I do sew the occasional thing, but it's a fun activity for me that turns into something useful, like a blanket or a dress or a skirt.  Or doll clothes...)
+ I don't have my kids in umpteen sports and activities and programs.  (They do swimming lessons in the fall/winter/spring once a week, all at the same time.  We go to our homeschool co-op twice a month.  We go to church and Sunday school every Sunday.  That's it.)
+ I don't always fold laundry as soon as it's dry.  (Sometimes my kids have to dig through baskets to find clothes.  But hey, they're clean.)
+ I don't fold any of the clean towels or washcloths.  (My other daughter does.)
+ I don't keep track of fashion trends.  At all.  (Most days I wear jeans and a t-shirt.  On Sundays, I wear nice shirts and skirts or dresses, but they're what are comfy and please me, not what are cool or trendy.  I have no idea what's fashionable.)
+ I don't wear makeup.
+ I don't read all my favorite blogs every day anymore.  (This makes me SO SAD.  I want to find a way to work reading blogs back into my daily schedule.  Trying to make that happen.  Cuz I miss reading my friends' blogs, but right now, it just doesn't happen.)
+ I don't read my Facebook feed much.  (I use FB mostly as a bulletin board and to instant-message friends.  I might scroll a little while waiting for someone to reply, but that's very occasional.)
+ I don't do Twitter.  (I have an account, but I never use it.)
+ I don't have an Etsy shop.  (Anymore.  I did for years, but life happened.)
+ I'm not pursuing a higher education degree.  (My BA is just fine, thanks.)
+ I don't shower every day.  (Twice a week is fine, unless I've been working outside or whatever.)
+ I don't exercise every day.  I don't even exercise three times a week.  I try to, but reality is once or twice most weeks.  (But this is much better than back when I never exercised at all!)
+ I don't have a job outside the home.

Now.  Are any of the things I don't do bad things?  No!  They're all good.  And some of them, I should do more, or would like to do more.  I need to get back to exercising 3 times a week.  (I did for several months earlier this year, but life happened.)  I want to get back to reading blogs regularly.  (I did for years and years, but life happened.)

But that's how I do what I do.  By not doing many, many other things.  Because nobody can do everything, right?  Right.

So please, if you ever look at my "let's see what I checked off my to-do list for this season" posts and say, "Ugh, why can't I do all those things too?  What am I doing wrong?" I want you to know that the answer is nothing. You are doing nothing wrong.  You are probably just doing things that I don't do, and things that I do are on YOUR "I Don't" list.  And that's totally fine.  As Major Tony Nelson said in one of my favorite episodes of I Dream of Jeannie, "I'm me and you're you, and that's what makes the world go 'round."  He was a pretty smart guy, being an astronaut and all, so I think it's good to remember those wise words of his.

Or don't, if remembering random, obscure lines from movies and shows and books is on your I Don't list ;-)

(See?  Astronaut.)