Want to Remember Something? WRITE IT DOWN!

Have you ever encountered someone who constantly asked you to repeat information? Maybe a student asks when that paper is due every time they see you. Perhaps a family member asks when their next doctor's visit is. You might be asked over and over for a mutual friend's phone number or email address. For the sanity of us all, I am going to yell it from the rooftop....IF YOU NEED TO REMEMBER IT, WRITE IT DOWN!!!!!

I'm all for being helpful. I don't mind providing information that I have to others. I despise repeating the same information over and over to the same person though....especially when they refuse to write anything down. In my life, my lovely mother is the worst culprit. Let me just give you a few examples from the recent past.

Mom enjoys cooking and likes to try new recipes on a fairly recent basis. After trying a new food item, we generally comment on what we would like to adjust the next time we make it. I have repeatedly advised Mom to make note of her planned changes on the recipe so she will remember the next time she makes it. Fast forward to the next time she starts to make the recipe. She remembers there was something she wanted to change, but since there is not a notation about it, she can't recall what she had proposed. What is her solution? She comes to my door and asks what we said we were going to change. I grin, tell her I don't remember, and ask if she now understands why I am constantly asking her to write things down.

Just before the beginning of an extremely busy week filled with doctor's appointments for both me and Dad, Mother informs me that she received a phone call from one of her doctors to remind her of an appointment in the coming week. She doesn't know what to do because she is CERTAIN the doctor's records are mistaken since she doesn't remember the appointment. I'm not surprised by this at all and tell her I'll check on things when I'm in the office the next day. Sure enough, Mom is due for a follow-up visit that she had forgotten about because she failed to write it down.

I have to admit that this is frustrating even though I shake my head in disbelief and try to roll with it. I catch myself sometimes wondering why it is so hard to simply write things down in a place where you can return to it later. I've come up with a few possible answers....some of which I don't like.

• First of all, Mom has become dependent on me to keep track of things. I tend to make note of doctor's appointments and other trips that are going to impact my schedule. It's how I maintain my personal sanity while providing transportation for three adults. Since I manage those things that effect me, Mom hasn't learned that I don't keep track of those things that aren't on my radar. 
• Secondly, Mom hasn't created a place to keep notes and appointments. I've tried to help by creating a binder for recipes and providing a magnetic calendar for the refrigerator. Since I developed the systems, however, the maintenance of them falls to me. This is not working.
• I suppose it really all comes down to the fact that she hasn't established a routine of writing things down and has not experienced the positive benefits of keeping track of it. For all of her life, Mom was able to manage our household without the aid of any organizational system. As she ages, her memory is not as strong and she is resistant to developing a new way to keep track of things.

What am I going to do? Keep doing exactly what I'm doing now....encourage Mom to write things down, offer suggestions that can make her life easier, and plug as many things into my personal  calendar so we don't get caught with our proverbial pants down again.