adulting lately: the little things

Recently, as I came home to a freshly vacuumed staircase thanks to our house cleaner, I was thinking about how good it is that she takes care of it, because in the year+ that we lived here before I hired her, I think I remembered to vacuum the stair carpet twice (maybe?). Which led me to thinking about all of the little things in life where I have to remind myself - oh yeah, I'm the adult/parent in this situation, so if I don't do it, it will never happen! But then there's also plenty of big things too when it comes to parenting, like creating a will and getting life insurance for yourself as a parent, in order to make sure your kids are cared for if needed - which thankfully can become less complicated if you find the right help or insurance resource website.

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There are so darn many of these adulthood things to take care of that it's hard to keep track of them all, so I thought I'd start a list in case you need a reminder about any of these ones that I've tackled recently - and also so you can let me know what I'm missing (and therefore neglecting!) around here.

Finances

• Call the cable/internet/phone company to make sure you're getting the best rates. When I stopped in to talk to the Verizon people and learned that they have new plan structures available for my needs, my bill was cut almost in half.
• Same with your bank for your interest rates on savings/checking accounts.
• Cash in your credit card rewards $$ for something fun. (Had to add a get to do because you're an adult to this list of have-to-dos.)

House

• Flip/rotate the couch cushions for even wear - because if you're anything like us, you're making a dent in your "assigned" spots where you sit to watch tv every night.
• Change the furnace filter (apparently this needs to happen every 3-6 months? Whoops!).
• Speaking of filters, have you ever cleaned your vacuum filter? That one needs to be done too, turns out. Also the water filter in the fridge!
• Consider meal planning (a frequent oh yeah, I'm the adult here scenario is realizing at 5:30pm that somebody's gotta come up with dinner).

Kids

• Make sure you have life insurance as a parent - nobody wants to think about the worst case scenario, I know, but really the worst case is if something happens to you and your kids aren't provided for!
• Start looking at schools more at least year in advance - for real, since signups for schools tend to happen a good 9-10 months before the school year starts, you've got to figure out what you're aiming for way earlier than you think your kid is ready for it.
• Keep on schedule with making those dentist and doctors appointments, even though they come with my absolute least favorite part of realizing I'm the adult in the situation: having to help hold down a kid for vaccinations. Also making phone calls.
• Come up with/enforce consequences, aka the 2nd least favorite part of being the adult, and probably a good idea to come up with a chore chart too.

I know there all kinds of ways I'm like totally not acting like an adult, but at least I have these ones covered! For now. Maybe I should try this adulting school - the lessons sound way more fun than worrying about filters of various sorts, anyway.