Don't forget: we're still out of town. This post originally appeared in April, 2008
I feel like I forget everything.
I'm tired of being forgetful. It's bad enough that I forget where I put things, or where I'm supposed to be, or to bring my purse when I need to buy groceries. Sometimes I remember what I'm supposed to be doing, write it down, enter it into my computer, and then don't believe my notation because I'm convinced I must be missing something.
When I was going through fertility treatments I took a medication that really whacked me out; one day I set up a lunch date, wrote it in my calendar, contemplated the entry in befuddlement, and immediately called my friend back to ask if we'd just made plans.
Months ago I entered all of Cleo's choir performances into my calendar and then a few weeks ago read a memo about a scheduled concert that I hadn't written down. No problem -- I bought tickets and invited some family. Two days before the concert I discovered that I'd been correct in October when the schedule first came out: this performance involved only the older kids. Half a dozen tickets down the drain, not to mention another humiliation notch on my belt.
I'd like to be able to blame it on my kids. I'd like to be able to claim that having them has destroyed too many of my brain cells. I'd like to be able to assert that I'm so much busier with them around that no single person could keep track of all I have to remember. I'd like to be able to claim that they leave the house in such disarray that nobody could find anything here. I probably could, but it wouldn't prevent me from lambasting myself every time I left my credit card in another wallet, canceled it for the fifty-second time, and then found it exactly where I'd left it.
I've started making calendar entries with side notations like: "Yes, really -- confirmed April 15, 2008".
You won't believe what I found while searching for ways to jog my memory on the web. Introducing: The Remember Ring from Uncrate.com. It's battery operated and preprogrammed to remember your special events and remind you subtly by heating up to 120 degrees for 10 seconds every hour starting 24 hours before the event you usually forget.
(July 14 is Bastille Day, in case you forgot.)
This leads me to all sorts of memory-related questions:
- Can I program the ring to remind me that this is the day the kids stay after school for baseball practice?
- Can I program it to remind me of every single birthday, anniversary, performance and orthodontist appointment on my calendar? Or do I need a separate ring for each appointment?
- What's to prevent me from forgetting why the blasted ring is heating up and hurting my hand and just chucking it in the trash?
Why is it so easy to forget stuff?
Set your magic ring to remind you that Mother's Day is May 11 and there's still plenty of time to visit FeeFiFoto and design personalized photo jewelry (sorry, no rings, but we do have charming charms) for Mom, Grandma, Auntie, Sister, Daughter, Granddaughter, Teacher ... well, you get the idea. If you're forgetful, design a calendar with all your favorite photos and enter special dates.
