Nuts To Do

I've recently adopted a personal mantra which has literally changed my life. My mantra is this: Need to do, nice to do, nuts to do. I believe that every choice I make fits into one of these categories. For example:

I need to feed my kids lunch.

It would be nice to cut the crusts off the sandwiches.

It would be nuts to cut the sandwiches into stars and moons and then use fruits and vegetables to create the 8 planets of the solar system, with the sometimes planet, Pluto, represented as a cookie for dessert.

For me, it can sometimes be hard to stick to the "need to" and "nice to" and leave well enough alone with the "nuts to." Often, I don't realize I'm nuts until I'm too invested in a project to back out. And while my mantra has served me well, creating much more free time for me each day, I sometimes forget to use it and then I run into problems.

For example, the other day, Jonah asked for a cape. Specifically, he wanted a king cape. He then told me that all he wanted was a bath towel with a couple of ribbons or strings attached so he could tie it around his neck.

Well! I could do better than that! My sewing machine had just come back from a tune up and cleaning and was ready to go. Besides, a towel and a couple of strings did not make a proper cape. I told Jonah I would take him to the fabric store the next day where we would find a pattern and some fabric for a king cape.

I realized that it didn't take a PhD in costume design to make a cape. I probably could have designed something myself, or even found a free pattern on line. OK, I did find a few free patterns on line, but they just didn't meet my expectations. (My delusional, crazy, unrealistic and totally nuts expectations.)

So I went to the fabric store and came home with a bag full of stuff to make a king cape for Jonah and a superhero cape for Isaac. Unfortunately, I remembered my mantra just a little too late. Now as I look at the pile of supplies without the least desire to lift a pair of scissors, let alone put my foot to a sewing machine pedal, I can say with total certainty, "This is nuts!"