One of the skills I have developed most over the last seven years is my ability to do (or at least attempt to do) a ton of things at the same time.
Multitasking is, to women, nothing short of an essential skill for surviving, I think. Which is why we are all so good at it. I mean; how else are we meant to get our massive to-do lists done? The kids fed? The house cleaned? The shopping done? The socks paired? I know. Multitasking it is.
Seriously; when you are a mum, it is near enough impossible to slow down to focus on just one thing at a time. Like, if we devote all of our attention on cleaning the bathroom, the kids will burn the house down. And likewise, if we focus solely on the kids, give it some time, and the house will no doubt come crumbling down with unfolded laundry and bin bags waiting to be taken out.
So on and on we go with all our spinning plates, knowing that if we stop, the whole show will fall apart.
The problem? With multitasking comes the inevitable fails that happen when you, for any length of time, are trying to accomplish 400 things at once. Ouch.
Here are some of my most memorable multitasking-gone-wrong moments (please say you can relate, guys!):
1. That time I let the baby roll of the bed because I was trying to also fish a Barbie slipper out of a pot of yogurt.
2. That time I looked for my car keys for an hour, only to find them inside the freezer (I had been in such a hurry to get the berries from the market frozen when we got home, that I clearly just left the keys in there as well – for good measure.)
3. That time I almost burnt the house down toasting grilled cheese sandwiches into charcoal because I got busy doing spellings with my 6-year-old.
4. That time I crashed the car into a pillar in the Dundrum car park because I was also trying to remove my toddler’s ice cream wrapping from his ice cream.
5. That time I forgot to check on my six-year-old after I let her use some scissors (because I was trying to scrub Weetabix of the floor) – only to discover she had used them to chop her cousin’s hair off. All. Of. It.
6. That time I ran over the bin in the driveway because I was also trying to pick raisins out of my handbag.
7. That time I put the milk into the cupboard and not fridge as I was also trying to help two-year-old search for “Wheels on the bus” on Youtube. And only discovered this a week later when the stench from the milk alerted me to my mistake.
8. That time I drove away from the petrol station WITHOUT having paid because I got roped into breaking up a fight over three tiny Shopkins figures. (Note: I did turn around and paid for my petrol!)
9. That time I accidentally put cinnamon instead of pepper on my partner’s fried eggs because I was also stacking the dishwasher.
10. That time I went to work with eye make-up done on only one eye as I got distracted by trying to save the iPad my little boy came in and tried to flush down the toilet as I was doing my make-up.
I am fairly certain I can write another one of these posts in a few months time – with brand new failures to add to this list.
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