Planning and creating through the activity.

So Christmas is over and man, was it boring.

I have a problem with planning.  I can be wonderfully organized but typically only up to the start of the event.  For my parent's 25th wedding anniversary, my sister and I put a lot of work into secretly finding their friend's addresses and mailing party information to them.  We found and rented a great hall that also supplied food and drink.  The guests arrived, I invited my parents into the car for brunch and we drove to the event. Everyone yelled…something.  Probably Surprises or Congratulations or the like.  Then… nothing.  My father ended up emceeing the party planned in his own honour.

This year -we're back to talking about Christmas now - I decorated the house with the little guy's help.  While he was asleep, I laid out the presents and got everything ready for the morning.  Morning came, he was duly thrilled, and repeatedly told us how much he loved Christmas.  Then…nothing.  We stayed indoors and struggled to find something to do in the long, long afternoon.  Out of boredom, he was ready to go to bed early.

I am not always like this.  When I lead canoe trips for a sports camp, I repeatedly cautioned the campers to understand the end of the trip would be official only when we were enjoying dessert at the camp's main hall that evening.  And it worked.  The campers all pitched in to load the canoes and gear into the waiting vans and even unload it when we returned to the camp.  It was a point of pride for me that we returned clean pots and pans to the camp kitchen.

Recently, I also wrote about my son's new Lego sets, with their attention to detail, like the bookshelf in the bedroom.  This is where I need to focus - not on the bedroom - this is a PG-rated blog.  But rather, I need to plan through the event.  I need a "The-activity-is-not-done-until-the-next-breakfast" mindset.