This is one of Lily's - just turned 4-year-old! - torturous activities
favorite games. I know she is in the Why? Why? Why? phase, but jeez! Enough
already. Sometimes I have to say to her "Clear your mind of questions,
Lily" (ala Yoda when he is training Luke in the Empire Strikes Back
- yes, Star Wars, one of Ben and Lily's newest passions). It begins when we
wake up in the morning and continues, oh, pretty much throughout the
day. She just wants to know EXACTLY what is going to happen next....and
then what...and then what...and so on.
"What are we doing today, Mama"
"We're going to school"
"Oh....And then what are we going to do?"
"We're going to come home and have some lunch"
"And then what are we going to do?"
"We're going to have some quiet time"
"And then what are we going to do?"
"Ummmm (I haven't planned this, of course)....well, Mommy will be working for a while and J (our nanny) will probably do some art projects with you guys"
"And then what are we going to do"
"We'll have dinner (here's where I start to catch on and supply the rest of the details to try to cut her off), play a bit more, brush our teeth, read some books, sing some songs and go to bed"
"And then what are we doing to do" (Isn't that enough?!)
"And then we'll sleep all night long"
"And I will have a great sleep"
"Yes" (whew! done for 10 minutes)
I myself am not much of a planner. I like to go with the flow. I figure that things will work out for the best, that every new experience is something to be experienced without much planning. I was never one to have a "Five Year Plan" or map out much in my life. Sometimes this gets me into trouble - for instance, my career has been somewhat unplanned and at times I feel like, as such a major part of my life, it should be more clearly potted out. Or certain vacations, I think I would have benefited from doing a bit more advance planning so that we didn't waste time figuring out what the heck there was to do in this fantastic location we were in. But, mostly, I feel that it has been good to be open to new forks in the road that might take me into new directions that I hadn't considered. This all being said, I can definitely plan for other people. I obsess about what to pack for the kids on a vacation to make sure they are all taken care of. I plan endlessly for my clients. But, personally, I like surprises.
To plan or not to plan? What's better?
