Is it overthinking when you just have too much to think about? I have a running to-do list that never gets smaller, because things keep getting added onto it. I have taken to marking items “done” or noting progress, just so I can see that I have accomplished something!

What confounds me is some things linger or languish on the list. Usually, they’re the tasks I find most onerous, not necessarily the ones that will take the longest.

Then there’s the note “James’ laundry- it never ends!” Active 10-year-olds go through a lot of clothing. They also grow so fast sometimes, I find myself washing his clothes and dropping them in the donate pile. Which reminds me, I need to take the donated clothes somewhere....

We are working on personal responsibility. As in, “Mom, my boots aren’t on the shoe rack.” I don’t hunt for the boots any longer. Instead, I remind my son that it is his job to put the boots away, and he can hunt for them himself.

It’s not a perfect system. It usually involves some whining. But personal responsibility, or taking care of yourself, is a life skill. After all, in several more years he will be a young adult. As his older brother says, “Adulting is hard.” What neither of my boys knows yet is it never gets any easier with time!

Yeah, time. That thing I seldom have enough of. Hence, the running to do lists. Nope, it’s not overthinking. It’s just thinking in hyper-speed.