It’s 10:27 on a Sunday night and while the rest of my house
is quieting down, well aside from the jungle noises of apes and chimps on the
kids’ sound machine anyways, my mind is going about a hundred miles a
minute. And no, it has nothing to do
with the large mug of coffee I consumed around eight o’clock this evening. I’m not sure what it is about being a mom,
but it forces the multi-tasking part of your brain to go into overdrive. And overdrive hits overdrive on Sunday
evenings as I race through the mental check list that I have been compiling all
day in my mind of things that need to be done for the week, things that need to
be done for tomorrow, and things that needed to be done last week. There is often no sense to this list which
can be proven by listing verbatim what I typed on my iPhone earlier this
morning while I was feeding Bart. This
list-making while breastfeeding only further illustrates my point that moms
multi-task. Sorry all you La Lechers who
might feel I should spend the 20 minutes of feeding him, just gazing at his
sweet baby face and bonding. I do admire
his chubby little cheeks and twinkly brown eyes and I do hold his little
fingers wrapped around mine while I feed him.
But I also make lists and lists and lists. Okay maybe I check facebook
and some blogs too. I have found that when I actually write or now
type my lists(so much more earth friendly!), I accomplish things that need to
be done. So back to this list: “dishes,
church, grocery store, Valentine’s stuff, tax stuff, kids’ room, auction email,
find check from art student’s mom, sign up for Child Life conference, call
woman about donating stroller”. Then
throughout my day, as I am running back and forth between whatever items on the
list are pulling me towards them, I end up with at least twenty to thirty more
items to add to the list or just to be placed on the neverending list in my
head.
I watched A.J. today as we both went about doing stuff
around the house and with the kids. I
know it sounds like such a stereotype, but men really do focus just on one
thing at a time and compartmentalize things they need to do. Case in point, A.J. offers to hold Bart so I
can do something. That is all he will do…well
hold the baby and watch t.v. or check his email on his phone or surf the
web. The other kids bounce up and down
around him and walk their pretend tight rope that is the back top part of the
couch. The phone rings, the dog needs to
go out, etc. He won’t get up to do those things. Unless I am not home, but I have my doubts
that he gets up even then. I think part
of the reason that moms are forced to multi-task is that you are constantly
dealing with interruptions. Whereas A.J.
can just choose not to answer calls when he is at work and in the middle of
something, I don’t have the same choice.
Unfortunately, my four little and loud interruptions don’t have a
silence button. Since my everyday
routine involves wrangling at least 3 of the 4 kids for most of the day, I can’t
just sit there and hold the baby. Believe
me, I wish I could! So the baby gets put
in the bouncy seat and I am able to tend to the chaos around us. In terms of cleaning, A.J. uses his same
approach- focuses in on one specific area and stays there until he gets that
one thing done. I am trying to adopt
more of this methodology, however, my cleaning is usually an all-encompassing effort. Grab the full laundry basket and start
heading down to the basement to put it in the wash. Put basket down at the top of the stairs when
I notice the dog has no food or water, fill her dishes. Go to pick the basket up, but am interrupted
by one of the kids yelling that his/her butt needs to be wiped. Go to attend to fun task in the
bathroom. Notice the trash is full in
bathroom and take it out. Go to put
another plastic bag in the trash can, but am stopped in the kitchen because one
of the kids needs a drink right that second.
Finally back to putting a new bag in the bathroom trash can. Realize that the rug is soaked from when I
gave the boys a bath and grab the rug to add to the laundry pile. Put a clean bath rug down as A.J.’s family is
coming over for dinner. Get back to the
laundry basket and the load of laundry actually gets started this time. Start to head back upstairs when I see that
there are stuffed animal innards scattered all over the rec room. Thank you, Moxie! Scoop up the fluffy white stuffing and the
deflated stuffed duck carcass and toss them in the trash. Get started on the dishes and as I am washing
them and putting some in the dishwasher, I make notes of other things I need to
get done like sorting through all of Josie’s and Jimmy’s school papers and art
projects which are piling up in Sawyer’s room.
Then there are the two bins of baby clothes that need to be either
stuffed in Sawyer’s closet or taken down to the storage room. And well, it would be great if I managed to
put away the clean laundry that has also managed to get parked in Sawyer’s
room. Thank God the kid only needs to
sleep in there!
All the while that I am going about these mom jobs, I also
have a habit of composing emails in my head that I plan to get to….at some
point, most likely when I am feeding Bart.
I am so used to writing emails in my head, that I have on more than one occasion
actually forgotten to type and send said emails. Yes, this is pretty pathetic. But I know that many of you can relate. And if not, I will gladly loan you things 1,
2, 3 , and 4 for a weekend. I’ll even
throw in the husband and dog as added on bonuses!
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