What's on your list?

The beginning of a new school year for Sam

I like lists. I always have. Writing out a list helps me feel as if I am in control of my destiny, at least for the day. The feeling I have crossing something off my list pumps up my sense of accomplishment and self worth like no other. Lists help me remember stuff and they help me feel important. I have important things to do in this life.

Today Sam woke early, packed up some instruments, and made himself a salad to bring for lunch. He is ready to teach a new year of classes with bright new ideas for songs, activities, and concerts. His list for his year is very long. With my son's amazing ability to remember things, his list is most likely a mental thing that works better and is probably more organized than all the post-it note reminders stuck to all the surfaces in my kitchen. Today, I should have gotten up at a crazy hour, dressed for teaching art and made myself a salad to bring for lunch. I should have been off to teach a new year of classes with bright new ideas for projects, activities, and exhibits. I would have carried a new planner in my bag because I could never remember things like my son can.

Lists for school were very different kinds of lists than the ones I write at home, but just as helpful to my sanity. A teacher is expected to teach her classes and do all the other things that always come up. My lists helped me remember forms that had to be handed in, meetings with the principal or the art department, dates of art exhibits, that sort of thing. And when life got a bit hectic, listing my upcoming classes kept me grounded and gave me the confidence that I could handle another week of a career that was getting the better of my sanity.

Now that Labor Day is over and everyone put away their white clothes, today officially marks the first day of my retired life. I have been waiting for this day with trepidation since the last day of the last school year. Instead of getting up early to pack a bag with lunch and a brand new planner, I took my time this morning. I am off to the bank for new checks, to the car dealership to update my billing contract, and to Staples for business cards and flyers. I even have a list of appointments to make now that I have days during the week to see the doctors who wear white beyond Labor Day and who help me feel well enough to complete a list.

"Your teeth are so yellow, I can't believe it's not butter!"

Norman wears white all year. Tennis players, like doctors, have their own set of rules. I don't have much white to pack away. I wore cream and not white at my own wedding, not because it was the winter, but because I thought a white dress would make my teeth look yellow. Today, I am smiling with my 'winter white' teeth. Labor Day announced the end of summer break and I find that crazy because it feels just as hot and as lazy as a day in August. I think I'll put on a pair of winter white shorts and go make a list.