Completely losing my mind.

[pocomom]

Was home in between activities today for one hour. I decided to lay down for no more than 30 minutes so I could get a quick dinner ready and get my ds to Karate before picking up one dd and then later the other. Well I hopped up at the 30 minute mark but forgot completely about dinner told my son to get ready and got in the car.
Was pretty impressed with myself that he would be 10 minutes early, when lately we are barely getting in the door on time. When I got there I got an awesome parking spot! This early stuff is great! Then I realized his karate school was dim and had no students in it. - huh we beat everyone! Then I finally looked at my phone and realized I was 40 minutes early , oh and it is the wrong day, and I forgot dinner.

So busy mommas (and dads) please tell me what you do to stay on track. I have a Gmail calendar most events are on, but we are super busy right now it doesn't seem like it is helping keep me on track. For full disclosure I was recently diagnosed with Lupus (exhausted), dh works out of state and I am totally ADD to begin with. I feel like I need something that will even remind me of the basics not just events.

 

[mamamary]

I can't help. I went to the grocery store very early the other morning before the snow started. I got distracted and bought everything except a dinner which was my main reason for going.

 

[kimblebee]

I would say instead of relying on a calendar on your phone, get a dry erase one for your wall. That way, it's in front of your face all the time. Also, weekly menu planning might help out too.

 

[debster812]

I know it seems like a step backwards in this electronic age, but for YEARS, we swore by this calendar:

http://moretimemoms.com/family-organizer-2016

It's very large, the blocks for each day are big enough to write multiple events in them, and it's got cool stickers! For whatever reason, I find it gets reinforced in my mind when I write stuff down.

Now that our DS is away at college, we don't need it as much, but I still find myself looking on the fridge to see what's going on.

 

[pocomom]

I do meal planning once a week and write that in a dry erase. I just completely forgot I had to make dinner tonight. Part of it is because it was a quick dinner night so not like I had done prep work earlier- the other part is I am doing a lot of driving right now and quick stop ins at home. Since I wasn't hungry tonight I think I just didn't think of it, even though I knew earlier making dinner during that break was the plan...

 

[pocomom]

I can't help. I went to the grocery store very early the other morning before the snow started. I got distracted and bought everything except a dinner which was my main reason for going.

that sounds so me!

 

[Bilberry]

If you have not already, you might ask your doctor for a prescription of the generic drug low dose naltrexone (LDN). I've been reading about LDN lately. It often helps with improving autoimmune diseases. LDN is best known for sometimes halting the progression of MS, and some digestion IBD diseases, along with increasing energy levels.

A new book I was reading last night on LDN mentioned how patients and doctors found it helpful for those with lupus, sometimes halting progression and increasing energy levels in patients. Some information on LDN can read here:

Can LDN Really Help Multiple Sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Other Autoimmune Diseases?

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/a...-arthritis-and-other-autoimmune-diseases.aspx

&

Low-Dose Naltrexone (LDN): One of the RARE Drugs that Actually Helps Your Body to Heal Itself

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/a...-actually-helps-your-body-to-heal-itself.aspx

 

[Aliceacc]

Like most moms I know, you've got a lot of balls to keep in the air.

And you dropped one.

You know what? That's OK. No one ended up in the ER. There was no damage to anyone's property or well being.

I hope you stopped at McDonalds on the way home, and had a good laugh. And a good night.

I use the planner I use for my classes...at the bottom of each day it tells me of any appointments or chores I need to get to.

 

[tiggergal15]

Ask to have your thyroid checked.Often thyroid problems go along with lupus - both can make u very tired. Get a large calendar and write out meals and activities a month or so at a time. Visual info right where you see it all the time will help greatly!

 

[VillainFavs]

I know it seems like a step backwards in this electronic age, but for YEARS, we swore by this calendar:

http://moretimemoms.com/family-organizer-2016

It's very large, the blocks for each day are big enough to write multiple events in them, and it's got cool stickers! For whatever reason, I find it gets reinforced in my mind when I write stuff down.

Now that our DS is away at college, we don't need it as much, but I still find myself looking on the fridge to see what's going on.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this calendar!! I have used it for years now and won't use anything else. Just can't do the whole electronic thing. I have this hanging in our front hall, over the phone, near the door. We all look at it on the way in or out so we can see what's going on and who has to be where. I love the big squares for multiple activities and that it's matte type paper so things can be erased easily instead of the glossy paper that most wall calendars come in.

Much as I use my phone, I just find the calendar on it just doesn't work for me. I'm a visual person and need the big calendar on the wall to remember things.

 

[brockash]

Was home in between activities today for one hour. I decided to lay down for no more than 30 minutes so I could get a quick dinner ready and get my ds to Karate before picking up one dd and then later the other. Well I hopped up at the 30 minute mark but forgot completely about dinner told my son to get ready and got in the car.
Was pretty impressed with myself that he would be 10 minutes early, when lately we are barely getting in the door on time. When I got there I got an awesome parking spot! This early stuff is great! Then I realized his karate school was dim and had no students in it. - huh we beat everyone! Then I finally looked at my phone and realized I was 40 minutes early , oh and it is the wrong day, and I forgot dinner.

So busy mommas (and dads) please tell me what you do to stay on track. I have a Gmail calendar most events are on, but we are super busy right now it doesn't seem like it is helping keep me on track. For full disclosure I was recently diagnosed with Lupus (exhausted), dh works out of state and I am totally ADD to begin with. I feel like I need something that will even remind me of the basics not just events.

What works best for me is physically writing everything down and training myself to look at at the end of everything I do when things are really crazy. Maybe get a regular calendar planner and write down everything that needs to be done and then throughout each day when you get done with one thing, train yourself to look at the calendar before moving on to the next thing. -It takes a few extra seconds and might seem like a pain, but then you won't be second-guessing yourself and you won't miss anything.

When I have really busy times I'll even write down my "itinerary" for the next day before I go to bed. -I'll schedule everything out with the times etc. and then work off of that the next day when I have a million things going on.

That and I have about 20 different alarm times set on my phone for all the various activities/appointments we have going on each day. -Sometimes I feel like being at work is a break lol.- it's at least simpler and not nearly as much balancing for that chunk of time.

 

[Cadiewampus]

Ask to have your thyroid checked.Often thyroid problems go along with lupus - both can make u very tired. Get a large calendar and write out meals and activities a month or so at a time. Visual info right where you see it all the time will help greatly!

Oops sorry about the lupus comment. Apparently I need to pay more attention to what I read

 

[Aliceacc]

It was the OP who mentioned a Lupus diagnosis.

 

[Sabeking]

Really we go from how do you stay on track to you may have lupus?

I believe she said she had Lupus.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I would say instead of relying on a calendar on your phone, get a dry erase one for your wall. That way, it's in front of your face all the time. Also, weekly menu planning might help out too.

A BIG one, lol. Once I switched to using a dry erase board, I was pretty on top of things.

I also have a "family" calendar on the wall as well.

Everyday, I would look at my calendar and then write the stuff I need to do/go for the day.

This method really helps when you are stressed and not able to think clear.

 

[mjkacmom]

I have 5 kids who are completely over scheduled, activities every night for pretty much everyone. I've had a giant desk calendar on my wall for at least 15 years, between the kitchen and living room, and I look at it all of the time. However, if I do something not in my ordinary routine, I tend to mess up. I try not to, because we have some complicated carpools, that change week to week.

 

[cijay]

Was home in between activities today for one hour. I decided to lay down for no more than 30 minutes so I could get a quick dinner ready and get my ds to Karate before picking up one dd and then later the other. Well I hopped up at the 30 minute mark but forgot completely about dinner told my son to get ready and got in the car.
Was pretty impressed with myself that he would be 10 minutes early, when lately we are barely getting in the door on time. When I got there I got an awesome parking spot! This early stuff is great! Then I realized his karate school was dim and had no students in it. - huh we beat everyone! Then I finally looked at my phone and realized I was 40 minutes early , oh and it is the wrong day, and I forgot dinner.

So busy mommas (and dads) please tell me what you do to stay on track. I have a Gmail calendar most events are on, but we are super busy right now it doesn't seem like it is helping keep me on track. For full disclosure I was recently diagnosed with Lupus (exhausted), dh works out of state and I am totally ADD to begin with. I feel like I need something that will even remind me of the basics not just events.

I don't see that anyone came off any the worse for wear so I think it'll be a funny story eventually. Maybe it already is by now. If you have three kids, what do they do around the house? What about THEM cooking meals, or at least helping. Peel potatoes, take things out to thaw etc.

Anyway, I'm doing good some days that I have all of my clothes on.

 

[havaneselover]

I can relate. Tonight I have to rush home from work to get ds to basketball. Then pick dd up froM swimming. Take her home so she can shower and do homework. Pick up ds. Hopefully by 8 we will be eating something. I keep myself sane by having a weekly and monthly dry erase calendar on my fridge. I also keep week night dinners simple. I have a small notebook in my work bag with lists on it (e.g., what to get done over the weekend). I also stick a post it to the back of my iPhone during the day with a list of what needs to get done after work.

I also share custody and ex has been traveling a lot so his days with the kids are constantly changing. I'm good if I can plan ahead, but constant changes, dealing with snow days, sick kids, etc. sends my anxiety through the roof

 

[barkley]

I'm another one who needs an old school write-on calendar (I have some post stroke memory issues and I've found that the physical act of writing things down does help me remember it more).

at one point dh and both kids were attending school-3 different schools/3 different schedules. I got a dry erase board and a couple of sheets of magnetic backed paper. I wrote in future appointments/commitments on the paper calendar (always kept on fridge so if someone other than me was looking at scheduling something they could refer to it for conflicts) but I took sharpie and made the dry erase into a 2 week calendar (with large squares). for each of us there was a designated color of wipe marker so I could with a glance see who had a commitment at a given time. I used the magnetic backed paper and created blocked out periods of time for continuing/known commitments (for the kids school didn't change w/the exception of some days off that were different but for dh it changed class time wise quarter to quarter, also made them for known activities like extracurriculars, youth group.......).

every 2 weeks the wipe board got updated to show the next 2 week cycle-magnets got moved if something normally 'fixed' (like your karate class) was changed to a different day/time, anything that needed to be added from the paper calendar got written in.


as far as quick dinners-we always have back up emergency meal stuff on hand-often it's containers of frozen leftovers I can flash defrost and nuke in 15 minutes. back in our busiest days I would also have bags of precooked ground beef in the freezer b/c in a pinch I could pull it out, throw some taco seasoning in it and either do tacos, burritos or nachos (we always either have shells, tortillas or chips on hand along with canned refried beans and the wealth of extra packets of taco bell sauce packets that get tossed into the bags when we succumb to their temptations).

 

[minniecarousel]

Just a side note in using the big family-type calendar: I've kept those old calendars as a diary. It's fun (& exhausting!) to look back at our busy lives when the boys were growing up!