I'm therapated

Had my last occupational therapy session today. I found it very valuable. Talking to the therapist really made me aware of a lot of things I shouldn't be doing, or should be doing differently. Get help with the grocery shopping, for example, so I don't end up hauling all the bags into the house by myself. Make tasks into multiple steps, such as

• take out the milk jug
• set it on the counter
• close the fridge
  
• take off the lid
• pour into the glass
• put it back on the counter
• put on the lid
• open the fridge
• put it back in the fridge

so I can use both hands for the lifting and not put strain on my joints.

Some of this will be hard for me. I finally scrubbed the paint spots off the bathroom counter today. I asked hubby to clean up after rinsing the paint brushes 2 weeks ago, and let the paint spots sit, hoping he would do it. Today I got fed up and cleaned up, and realized afterwards that scrubbing off paint spots with a sponge and Comet is really not great for the fingers.

Getting my 4-year-old to carry his own bag when I pick him up at preschool is fine when he's cooperative. But when he's not, and I need to bodily remove him from the classroom to the car, I still end up carrying his stuff. And when hubby forgets to bring home the bag from the day before, and the day before that, the issue is compounded.

I guess, having done the OT, I now know how to look at my life and recognize these as problems. What I have to do next is figure out how to prevent them. Realizing with the last stroke of the sponge that I shouldn't have done that is less helpful than planning ahead so I don't pick up the sponge. Sadly, planning ahead has never been my strong suit.