D.O.D.

Though A.D.D. may be all the rage these days, there is a highly overlooked disorder in the pyschological field that I would like to bring to light. My gut tells me I am not the only one with this disease, and by coming out of the closet I might even find some camaraderie among fellow sufferers.

Let me introduce you to an hour in the life of one who suffers from
DISTRACTION OVERLOAD DISORDER.

The other morning I was cleaning up after breakfast. When I opened the fridge I found it nearly bare which reminded me that we needed groceries. Leaving the dishes unfinished I sat down to write a grocery list, which led me to my recipe book in search of menu ideas for the week. The recipe book reminded me that I had been intending to get some recipes from a few friends, which made me think that some of those recipes might already be posted on my yahoo group. Leaving my grocery list unfinished, I went upstairs to my computer where I intended to check my yahoo group, but upon opening google, I got distracted by the daily news and started to read about the elections. Leaving my recipe list unfinished, I next checked my email where a message reminded me of a birthday party my son was invited to which reminded me I had a present in need of wrapping. The need to wrap reminded me of Christmas, which reminded me of a returned Christmas card which reminded me to put my email address on a friend's blog so she could send me her address. Leaving the present unwrapped, I went to her blog, which of course led to another blog and another where I ended up finding a fun activity posted that I just had to try. This led me to an internet site called myheritage where you can upload photos and use face recognition technology to find out which parent your child resembles most, or which celebrities you resemble. I then realized I needed to switch to my downstairs computer where the photos are kept if I wanted to play with face recognition. But I couldn't go downstairs until I cleaned up the mess of staples and 3x5 cards my son had scattered from the computer desk while I'd been at the computer. The mess upstairs reminded me that I still hadn't finished cleaning up breakfast which reminded me I hadn't finished my grocery list, my menu list, my recipe search, or wrapped the present...

SO....What would YOU do at this point?

1. Wrap the present while you are thinking about it?
2. Finish cleaning up breakfast before the grapenuts cement to the cereal bowl?
3. Check the recipes while you are still logged onto your computer?
4. Stop and clean up the mess of staples your toddler made?
5. Leave the room quickly to find the toddler who has now disappeared with a stapler in hand?
6. Go downstairs to your other computer because it is really quite crucial to find out which celebrity you look like ?
7. Stop and write a blog entry blaming the fact that you can't get anything finished on Distraction Overload Disorder!?

Well, being the prudent mother that I am forced to be at times, I first chased down my son. He had the stapler in the living room where more staples were now scattered, and this of course meant I had to vacuum the living room rug. At some point I also got to the kitchen, the bedroom mess, and the wrapping, but it was days before I got back to the face recognition, over a week before I got to the blog entry, and the recipes I pretty much gave up on for now.

Whether typical housewife hysteria, or truly a disorder of sorts, this my friends, is my life! (You can see why I relate so well to the "If you give a mouse a cookie" series of books.) And speaking of mice, my next entry will feature an incriminating picture of a little varmint who has been sneaking around our garage eating leftover Halloween candy. It's very funny, but will have to wait for the many distractions that are sure to come between now and that next blog entry...(like the fact that I just decided to experiment with font sizes and colors which you will now note in my entry.) See...distracto-woman!!! That is me, and I am not ashamed to admit it, so long as nothing distracts me before I get the chance! :)