Are you a procrastinator? If you’re planning to read this post later or “when you have time,” get over yourself. (Check your Facebook page first, right?!) They actually have a Facebook group for procrastinators. Go figure. (As if I have time to sign up for that group when I’m too busy bantering with my other 400 FB friends.) https://www.facebook.com/groups/2200058888/?ref=ts&fref=ts

Before having kids, I was a professional procrastinator. I put off things that I deemed “not necessary” until the last minute. The laundry, the lawn, cleaning the bathroom toilet. (I even put off buying my first bra at 14. Not that I really needed one. I’d like to say THANK YOU to the person who invented the padded bra by the way.) And I digress. Lucky for me, I launched my career in a deadline-focused field. Journalism. I’d have no problem conducting interviews and meeting article deadlines, but everything else fell on the backburner and could have ended up on an episode of Clean Sweep had I not married my best friend who is ridiculously organized and on time for EVERYTHING. (He helped ship me into better shape over the years – thanks honey!) As a freelance writer, when I had a long deadline, I’d find myself sitting in front of a blank computer screen, with pimples forming from writer’s block. I’d end up washing dishes, scrubbing the toilet with a toothbrush and doing five loads of laundry. (And writing the article the night before it was due, of course.) Give me a three-hour deadline, and I’d have it done in two hours flat. When I became a mom, I didn’t have time to think about putting anything off – I was in survival mode. Do or be darned. Feed the baby. Burp the baby. Bathe the baby. Hold the baby. Shower. Drop off baby. Work all day. Rinse and repeat. With an active baby – I was lucky to fit in a layer of deodorant into my day.

Through the years, the things I used to procrastinate about have faded away, making me feel a little better about myself. (I’m no Rachel Ray, but I do try.) Unfortunately, some things have still fallen to the wayside. Let’s just say I now have 1,789 photos of my daughter stored conveniently and digitally in my computer, and until a month ago, one quarter of a photo album to show for it. (My first born has two albums FILLED.) One year, I attended two scrapbooking sessions hosted by a friend, bought crafty supplies and have been putting it off ever since. I believe this was five, maybe six pathetic years ago. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Am I a bad mother because I don’t like to scrapbook? Let’s see – tending to the kids, laundry, dishes, deadlines, meetings, volunteering OR starting a scrapbook. I consider myself a creative person. I’ve conducted conference calls while simultaneously folding four loads of laundry and feeding a play-date party of five. But a talented scrap-bookkeeper I am not. Recently, my husband and I hosted our own version of Clean Sweep, and cleaned out the attic, the garage and our kids’ rooms. We found a TON of our daughter’s old PRINTED baby pictures and put them in a cute album that I swear I purchased the same year she was born. It’s not winning any awards, but it’ll do. As long as she’s not expecting to see a craft store aisle pop off the pages, it’ll do just fine.