I know I've been honing my multi-tasking skills for many years now. I've found you get better with age- or at least you aren't as aware of your major multi-tasking load. My mother-in-law swears I used to braid my oldest daughter's hair one-handed while holding a baby in the other. I do recall wearing one son in a backpack and bouncing him as I cooked dinner, did laundry, braided hair, etc.
Or the time we were going swimming at the lake, loaded down with STUFF and kids, heading for the beach. I tenderly looked over at a young father, struggling to hang on to his two children as he schlepped his STUFF back from the water, towards the car. I advanced on him, asking if he could use any help. He looked at me, bewildered, and asked "How can YOU help ME?" I looked down at myself, a child in each arm, various bags and water toys laden over my shoulders....more overloaded than he was. We both laughed.
Multi-tasking involving many children is the hardest job you will ever love. I know, I stole the Peace Corps' slogan. But it's so true!
I think I'll say multi-tasking a few more times for you....multi-tasking, multi-tasking. It's one of those words that sounds like it's meaning. Is there a hyphen in the word? I don't know.
Speaking of the subject, we've got a lot going on around here. Some home remodeling- mainly flooring and counters. Sounds simple in those few words, doesn't it? Like, "Did you hear, Jenny had her baby!" The words are far from the real work involved. The reality here is lots of dust and dirt, dirty dishes (hey, I can add to the mess!), fast food meals for dinner and keeping kids OUT of the way when required and IN the work zone when they are needed to help. Not to mention friends coming over to play or my kids wanting to go to their friends' houses. (It's summer, what do you expect?) Also keeping Abby, the dog, fed, watered and out of the way.
Today was no exception- only more to add. I decided to work on the pioneer dresses I had promised the little girls almost a year ago. One was already cut out and just waiting for me to assemble it. A simple pattern- would probably take the average seamstress 3-4 hours from start to finish. For me, make it almost a week.
I had a great excuse to stay out of the kitchen- it's being tiled- so I thought it would be the perfect day for sewing. There is a pioneer celebration coming up this weekend and prizes for those dressed as pioneers. The pressure was on- in the form of two little girls looking longingly at the pink and purple calico material laying on my sewing table.
I had just begun, and the girls were playing in their big sister's room. I was happy to hear their laughter over the humming of my machine. Alas, my sewing streak was broken by two things-
first, I had forgotten to purchase the required eyelet lace trim for the dresses and second, my middle daughter fell off the bed (while walking along the edge of the footboard, naughty girl) and landed right on her forehead. Think thin carpet over cement flooring.
After giving her an ice bag for her head and settling her on the couch, (we've had lots of bumps in this family and she didn't even have a goose egg) I got ready to run into town to make my purchase. At the last moment, I invited her along thinking it would take her mind off of the pain. I did a quick eye test to be sure her pupils looked normal, then we headed out.
Halfway to town, she started crying. Sobbing that her head hurt, she was feeling really dizzy and everything looked blurry and 'in pieces.' A few minutes later she begged to go back home as she thought she was going to throw up. I was on the alert, quickly debating what I should do. Naturally, I had left my cell phone at home. It was dead because I had not been able to charge it the night before. Because our kitchen had fresh tile being put in and I couldn't get to the charger.
I thought about the pediatrics office- but knew I had to have an appointment. My only other close option was the emergency room of the children's hospital. Thoughts of actress Natasha Richardson passed through my head and the danger of head injuries with these symptoms. Symptoms my girl was not aware of. We went to the ER.
After a series of motor skills tests, which she passed, she was given Tylenol and a soda. Miserable with a headache and nausea, she sipped a bit at the pop. Then she threw up. Then they gave her anti-nausea medicine......and she threw up. But, aside from the headache, she felt better afterwards. They watched her for an hour, which means I watched her for an hour alone in the room. While still a bit nauseous, she hadn't thrown up again. So we were allowed to go home and watch for any other signs of concussion. (She had also napped for a bit in the room and woke easily from that.) Since the ER visit, she's slowly beginning to feel better. She's eaten some and doesn't feel sick anymore. Her headache is almost gone as well. I'm glad I took her in- the throwing up and sleepiness would have freaked me out good!
But back to my multi-tasking topic:
On the way back from the ER, I stopped at Costco and got pizza knowing it would be dinner time soon and not only could I NOT cook in the kitchen, but everyone would be ravenous. Not to mention annoyed that they couldn't reach me on my cell phone. Pizza would fix that, too. Stopped to get gas as it was running low.
Got home, fed everyone, settled my daughter, told the story- as they were all blissfully unaware that we'd been at the hospital for several hours, made sure the animals were fed and watered,(delegated that) settled some disputes, listened to ideas about the flooring and countertops, answered the phone, said "no way" to several requests, settled a real fight, started some laundry, thought about those unfinished pioneer dresses downstairs......and decided they'd have to wait until tomorrow. Whew!
Question: What would it really be like to live in simpler pioneer times? I would like to know! (although I'm grateful today for the hospital)
Now, as a reward for those who lasted through my long, sordid story, a few pictures of our new tile flooring, which I LOVE :
Look at my boy working hard there....
I don't know why, but I just LOVE seeing those boys scrub and polish the floor!It almost brings tears to a mother's eyes.
And a big THANK YOU to Robert for diligently working to get this done.
Big improvement over the previous flooring. Think late 70's....or don't think about it. It might be for the best.
