Mommy Brain; Alternately Titled: Did I Lock the Van?

Do you ever feel like you're forgetting something? I have that feeling a lot. It's not an overwhelming feeling, like some people who have OCD might encounter. This is more of a little whisper on occasion. I blame it on lack of sleep and a fractured brain that is always worried about other things: kids, dinner, getting to work on time, etc. My brain is pulled in so many different directions it sometimes fizzles out and I can't remember the simplest of things.

I do a lot of things on auto-pilot. In the mornings, I drop Benjamin at day care and then take Frances to school. I take the same route from there to my job. I park in pretty much the same parking space every day. And every day when I open the car door, I manually lock them with the switch on the inside of the door. I get my bag out o the car and head to the door. Midway to the door, I pause. Did I remember to lock the door?

Yes! I did remember! I think...Maybe I'll just lock it again with the button. So I push the button, but now I'm too far away from the van to hear the locks engage, so I keep pushing it until the horn beeps to let me know that YES, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD YOUR DOORS ARE LOCKED!

So sorry to people in the neighborhood across the street. My brain obviously needs a vacation.

There are other things that I forget doing too. When I get home at night, I take off my jewelry and put it in my jewelry organizer. Except for my watch. If I take off my watch I won't know when to cut off dinner time and send the kids to bed. I'll have to get up fro the table, go grab my phone and check the time. But then I have my phone at the table and I feel like that's setting a bad example. So I keep my watch on.

That means in the morning, I can't find it. If I end my day by sitting on the couch, I'll usually take it off and place it on the table there. But if I go to the bathroom at a certain point, I'll leave it in there. Sometimes I forget to take it off until I get in bed and then I leave it on Ken's dresser. I never remember where it is, but those are three pretty good places to look. Once I lost it for about three months. It ended up being in the couch cushions!

I also lose my pedometer quite frequently for the same reasons. If only I could somehow, by magic, get an accounting of how many steps I take each morning while looking for my pedometer. That's some kind of messed up, in my opinion! I wish they could make it bright yellow so it would be easier to find!

Don't even get me started on my keys! Ken even made me a key hanger by the front door. It holds mail and extra keys. He lovingly put little hooks underneath to hang things. He was so proud of himself when he gave it to me. And when I lose my keys, you can barely hear the irritation in his voice when he asks if I've looked on the key rack. He's such a good man!

Do you have trouble remembering things? Is it "mommy brain" or something else?

I'm linking up today with Lisa's One Word Challenge. Again, I've only managed to slip in two of the three choices. Did you find them?