The rare occasion a list works for our ‘right-brained’ creative kid…

Right-Brained Kid
I am a list person.

Checking off boxes makes me happy.  There is even this super handy app called “Doit.im” that helps me keep my life in order. I get to check off boxes every day or very easily move them to another day.  I seriously think checking off boxes releases dopamine in my brain.  Kinda twisted, I know…  Unless maybe you’re a list checker yourself, then you get it!

I also happen to be the mom to an amazing young lady, who is NOT a list person.

A girl who is creative, non-linear, super right-brained, and definitely outside the box!  She is a huge part of the reason I don’t do a ton of homeschool planning, and why I plan backwards.  She doesn’t like to do things in any particular order and is often almost always thinking of something new to create.  I do print out weekly lists of the individual core things(math, writing, chores, piano practice) that need to be done each day, but usually I am cattle prodding a bit to make sure those things get done (besides piano, I usually don’t have to cattle prod her to get that completed).

But there’s a phenomenon that happens occasionally in our home.

And I can’t remember the first time it happened.  And I can’t quite figure out why it works so well.  It goes like this… I leave the house for a few hours and she is left in the care of my husband or my parents.  I leave her with a list to complete.   She doesn’t complain.   I come home 2 hours later.   The list is complete.  WHAT?!

I’m still trying to figure out WHY this works.

In fact, I almost look forward to days I have to leave for a bit because there is little to no battling.     I’m trying to figure out how to replicate this on our typical days.  But I think that’s part of it… me leaving for a few hours is not a typical day and she craves novelty and non-typical.

I have my other hypotheses…  Like maybe she loves being independent and this is foreshadowing of how she will do “in the real world”.   Or maybe it feels like it’s a ‘beat the clock’ type thing and there is a little fire under her tush once I leave the house.  Whatever it is, I welcome it!  Especially in our current season, where my 8-year-old is doing 9 months of Vision Therapy, and I occasionally leave my daughter with my mom or dad.  I can leave her with a list, and know it will get done!

Are you a list person or do you loathe them? How about your kids? If you’re not a list person, what motivates you to get stuff done?