Are You a Planner or a Fly by the Seat of Your Pants Type of Person?

More than I Need and Ready to Go

I bet some of you reading this are too young to know what I’m talking about, but I would be the person on the TV show “Let’s Make a Deal” who had whatever Monty Hall asked for. To put it in more current terms, I was the soccer mom who had whatever anyone needed at a tournament, from little pill bags for earrings that the girls forgot to take out, to a porta-potty emergency pack. 

I have always been obsessed with being ready for anything. It’s probably some deep rooted psychological fear from something I wasn’t prepared for in my youth, (I’m guessing). My car is packed with every “what if” thing you can think of, a well stocked first aid kit, sunscreen, bug spray, rain gear, sweatshirts, hair ties, lint roller, medicine, stain wipes, plastic bags... you get the point. If we go somewhere and we don’t take my car I literally have a panic attack. 

When I go on a day trip, say to a museum, I love the "idea" of packing in a small light bag so my back doesn’t hurt at the end of the day. But then I think I may need this and that, what if it rains, what if I’m cold, what if I’m hungry, what if I want to sketch or take photographs, and before you know it my bag is 25 lbs. I wish I were exaggerating, I’m not, but I am getting better. I’ve learned to scale down as I’ve gotten older. I now keep a “to go” bag with minimal essentials for when we visit my daughter at school or spontaneously go on a quick trip. Its like Lipton’s “Cup of Soup”, just add water, or in this case clothes.

My friends and family always laugh at how over prepared I am, even when I cook. My sister-in-law calls me the “Queen of Excess” because I would rather have way too much food than not enough. It’s all in fun, but I can tell you that I am the first one they come to when they need something. I don’t always have it, but there’s a good chance I will!