Preparation and Taxes

In years past, my husband, who does our taxes by his own preference, has needed some friendly prodding to get on the task.   It had even gotten to the point where I would put a daily reminder on his calendar saying, "how are the taxes going?" to try and help get him motivated.   He has always gotten them done with reasonable time to spare, but he procrastinates over this not-so-fun task every year. 

This year we had things going on, projects we'd both embarked on that were encompassing our waking hours not spent doing family things.   It wasn't until this weekend when he said, "you've forgotten something."   I had no idea what he meant until he said, "you forgot to remind me to do the taxes."

We both had some work we'd scheduled for today while the children were in school.  Mine was preparation for recording the next podcast episode.  His was starting on the taxes.   I got my first pass sent off to Scott for review and my husband had started laying things out on the large table in the basement behind our desks. 

In years past, tax documents and related files would fill this table for over a month.   Today, not even at the end of the day but at the end of the school day he said, "the taxes are done and submitted."   This is cause for celebration.  I think for him more than anyone else.   When I asked him how he said he'd gotten better at it every year and with the knowledge he'd gained and the single-focused work he did today, he could get done what had taken six weeks of procrastination in the past in a single, focused six-hour session.  

My day's work seems pretty paltry in comparison. 

The Big Boy Update:  My son told me something yesterday that I had no idea about.   He doesn't like to talk about school and rarely offers any information but he said today would be his last day as a class officer.   I asked him more about it and today, he told me the whole rundown of how each student serves a period as one of three officers.   There is the Seargent at Arms, who is responsible for noise level.  If a student is making too much noise they ask that a reminder be given. If two reminders are given the student is asked to leave the community meeting for a short period.   This officer is also responsible for making sure only one person is talking at a time.   Then there is the Chairperson who makes sure the class is staying on topic and leads the meeting.   They're the overall leader who delivers any reminders the Seargent at Arms requests.  My son was the Secretary, responsible for taking all notes, writing up any reminders for the chairperson to then deliver, keeping track of how many reminders anyone has gotten, noting the start and end times of the community meeting.   My son said he really enjoyed being an officer but he knew it was important for everyone to have a chance to serve.   And secondly, my son not only did not throw a fit when he got in the car today, he said, "Hi, Mom.  Let's go get Reese."  When I told him it was just him and me he asked politely if I was hungry.  I said I hadn't had lunch.  He asked if I would be interested in going to Chick-Fil-A.  If not, that was all right.   I said I thought that would be a great idea.   My son barely eats lunch due to the Adderall so he's very hungry after school.   Something changed in him today.   He was a nice person, not anger-filled.  

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  LEGOs hurt when stepped on and I noticed the other night the bonus room was strewn with them.   I called my son up to clean them up just as my daughter came in.   I warned her about them but she said, "It's okay, mom; the trick is to drag your feet."   As I watched her I realized what a clever girl she was.  Especially when I asked her where she'd heard that idea and she told me she'd figured it out all by herself.   She said, "you learn a lot from blind people, don't you?"  I agreed, I did.