My mission in ’08:
To be a little less perfect

Robyn’s ’Hood
By Robyn McCloskey

My 2008 New Year’s resolutions . . .
Stop buying terrible gifts.
I am one of those people who just can’t seem to get their act together when it comes to buying gifts. It isn’t that I’m not thoughtful. It isn’t that I don’t care. It’s just that I crack under the pressure of finding someone the perfect gift.
We’ve had enough Christmas morning tears — or maybe I should say Christmas mourning — that I’ve gotten to the point with my teenage daughters where a few weeks before the holiday I give them the credit card and they order what they want online and have it shipped to the house. I’m thinking this is the way to go with all of my gift purchases.
"Hey, sorry about the lousy birthday present last year. Here, just take my credit card and order whatever you want. Try to keep it around 40 bucks, if you don’t mind. And while you’re at it, you might want to get yourself one of those clever musical Hallmark cards. Just sign my name at the bottom."
Hmmm. That just might work! The pressure’s off and everyone walks away happy.
Stop cleaning and tidying the house so much.
I realize how facetious this must sound, but the truth is I spend way too much time making sure my home is presentable. I’m one of those people who can’t leave the house with unmade beds or dishes in the sink.
When I was nearing the due date of our first child, my mom unexpectedly dropped by for a visit. Our car was not in the driveway and the front door was locked, so she peeked in the window to search for signs of life. She found none. What she did find was an empty glass of water on the table beside the living-room sofa. She jumped in her car and raced to the hospital, surmising that I must have gone into labor because I’d never leave a glass out unless I was under duress.
Mom knew me like a book. She arrived just in time to learn we had a little girl.
I have a friend who says, "If you’re coming over to see me, drop by anytime. If you’re coming over to see my house, give me an hour’s notice."
Good words to live by.
Stop being so task-oriented.
As I sat in a small group meeting at my church, the facilitator posed a question.
"What is the best thing about you and what is the worst thing about you?"
I easily answered the first half of the question. "I am a task-oriented person. If you give me a job to do, it will get accomplished. I am a git-r-done kind of gal. You can count on me."
I can’t even remember what my answer to the second half of the question was, but I know now that whatever I said, it wasn’t the truth. That’s because I later came to realize that being task-oriented also is the worst thing about me. I have a tendency to place tasks above people. I have a way of half-heartedly listening to my sweet 7-year-old while busily emptying the dishwasher, starting dinner, folding the laundry and answering e-mails.
A fellow mom shared this story with me. "I sat at the kitchen table writing out bills and pretended to listen to my four-year-old drone on about something I could care less about. He caught on to me, though, because he walked over to me, took my face in his little chocolate-smudged hands, turned my head toward his and said, ‘Mommy, listen to me with your whole face.’"
Out of the mouths of babes.
Stop getting so ticked off at my editor, John Scanlon, every time he changes something I’ve written.
Sorry big guy, it’s a pride issue. But obviously you must know what you’re doing since you’re the editor and I’m just a hack writer.
Quit smoking.
This one’s pretty much a no-brainer since I don’t smoke. Hey, this list of resolutions was getting pretty daunting . . . I had to cut myself some slack somewhere!
So dear reader, whatever your resolution list consists of this year, I wish you much success, and I promise not to hold you to any of them if you promise to do the same for me. ••
Robyn McCloskey’s column appears each week in the Northeast Times. She can be reached at crmccloskey@verizon.net