Abbey's Road: Are you a planner or not-so-much? Here's an ode to those who organize

There are a few types of people in the world: planners and nonplanners.

If you’re talking about parties, for example, planners are the ones who need to know six months before an event the particulars of what will be happening when, what food will be served and at what temperature, how many guests will be in attendance and how their hair will be styled.

Planners purchase all materials and supplies for the event several weeks in advance (in time with store sales) and do all the food prep the day before — at least.

By the time guests arrive, they have changed into their Company Clothes and styled their hair and have smooth jazz playing on Spotify throughout the home, which incidentally, is dust- and clutter-free because they set aside time to take care of those things.

I love planners and am so grateful for the ones who are in my life; my husband, bless his heart, is one of them; so is my dad, who to this day has detailed packing lists for camping trips and Excel spreadsheets for Everything Under the Sun.

(Engineers, you know.)

If you’ve gotten this far, you’ve probably already guessed that I am not a planner.

I am the one who wakes up and has a hard time remembering what day it is; who waits until an hour before dinner to decide which ground beef recipe to use; who struggles to use digital calendars and prefers paper because unless an event is staring me in the face–in ink, on the day it’s scheduled — I will certainly forget that it is happening.

When guests come knocking at the door for a party I am hosting, it’s because they got a text two days before and happen to not be busy; if they arrive more than five minutes early, I most certainly will still be wearing sweats and have a dishcloth draped over one shoulder.

This is a thing I am working on.

It’s in this season that I’ve found myself increasingly thankful for the planners in my life who help me stay organized, a task I’m really only good at under extreme duress.

Already this year, Mr. Roy has booked the hotels for our summer vacations, begun mapping out the route we’ll take to the Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota (among other destinations) — yes, we’re going — and is carefully budgeting for said trip.

If it were up to me, we’d throw stuff in duffle bags on a random Tuesday in July and just see where the road took us.

…which would probably be a questionable motel in Smalltown USA with maybe a thrift store or two and a Denny’s.

This season is busy with figure skating competitions, and we have a travel and rehearsal schedule that overwhelms my paper calendar to the point that I occasionally need to print off auxiliary schedules to hang on the fridge.

This is not the person I am; it’s who I have to become with three kids in the same sport.

In a couple days, we will be traveling to the great state of Kentucky — me, Bookworm and The Architect — so the girls can skate their little hearts out.

My husband, The Planner, is not attending. But he has done everything in his power to help me, and this is a thing I love about him.

Earlier this week, I opened my email and had 12 invitations to Google Calendar events.

“What’s this?” I asked, perplexed.

He had reviewed the schedule of all the girls’ events during the three-day competition, which operates on a minute-by-minute schedule, and invited me to every single event so I wouldn’t forget any.

He also booked the hotel (and emailed me the confirmation), had the oil on the van changed and, if I had to guess, will have suggestions about the best route to take.

There are a thousand reasons why I know God put me with Mr. Roy, but the fact that he is a planner and I am not is certainly one of them.

Thus I wanted to take this space to personally thank every planner in my life and in others’ — the ones who precalculate and pre-arrange and do advanced legwork and, in general, don’t live life with their fingers crossed, hoping for the best. You are all wonderful gifts, and I and my fellow free spirits are indebted to you for the structure you add to our lives.

Thank you for keeping us on track. Without you we’d be spending every vacation in seedy motels, and we are eternally grateful for the ways in which you enrich our lives.

Abbey Roy is a mom of three girls who make every day an adventure. She writes to maintain her sanity. You can probably reach her at amroy@nncogannett.com, but responses are structured around bedtimes and weekends.

This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Abbey thanks the planners in her life for being responsible