Seeking Imperfection

Not so long ago, I would have denied being a perfectionist. I would have gestured to how chaotic my house is, and said that no one who lived in so much chaos could be a perfectionist. It is only recently that I realized that being a perfectionist can mean that if I can't do it "right," I won't do it at all. Often, if I don't think I'll be good at something the first time, I won't try it. You can see how this means I often don't get a lot done. I'm very hard on myself, and the bar for perfection is so high, I don't think I can see it, nevermind reach it. My daughter will be three in the beginning of February, and it is because I don't want to pass this trait on to her, that I am really working at becoming an "imperfectionist," if you will.

Here's how crazy I'm am. My best friend, Michelle, lives with my husband, Paige, and myself. As we are working on the potty training thing right now, Michelle made a potty chart for "Princess Paige." Paige is all about the Disney Princesses right now - especially Ariel. So Michelle made a potty chart for her with Ariel on it and little Flounder stickers that she earns when she sits on the potty - on her Disney Princess potty seat, of course - for a minute. The chart is set up with rows and columns. Michelle told her that when there is a sticker in each square, she can get a surprise. Paige loves stickers, so this was fun for her. Things were going well until she started sticking the stickers - anywhere she wanted! For some reason, in my mind, you fill in one square, then the next, and the next, until you get to the end of a row, and then you start a new row. You don't just stick your Flounder stickers on the chart pell mell! I mean, she put a sticker right in the middle, for crying out loud! Then she put a sticker at the top of the chart, covering the picture of Ariel Michelle had put there. Now that's just craziness, people.

The scary part is I caught myself about to tell her to "do it right." Do it right?? Who lectures an almost three year old about the right way to complete a potty chart?? I must be out of my mind. And that, dear internet readers, is why I'm working to tame my evil perfectionist ways.

On a side note - I almost didn't post this, as I wanted to include a picture of the aforementioned potty chart. I tried to get a picture of it a couple of times last night, and I couldn't get it to come out right. So then of course this post wouldn't be right without a professional style picture of a potty chart, right???

I think I am losing my mind.

Right.