Me-Time

There is a revelation I have come to lately.  I am a super-good multi-tasker.  I can get dishes, laundry and mopping done in one fell swoop.  I can talk on the phone and post a facebook status update (though my sister can always tell when I'm doing that). I have nursed a baby while reading another kid a bedtime story. I have planned a conference, made hotel reservations and participated in a teleconference all at once. I am fabulous at doing several things at once. But I am terrible at doing one thing at once.  Even when I'm watching TV at the end of the night, more often than not, I find myself pulling a project up on the couch with me so I can get something done. 

Both Buddhist teachings and all these parenting books I've been reading tell me this: Enjoy what you do. And do what you do with all of you.  I think some of my multi tasking is good, has even made me very successful at the things I do. But its not so good for kids.  So, therefore, I have been practicing sitting on the floor with Coen and giving him full attention as we construct Lego buildings, boats and houses and just listening to him talk is my reward.  I join Lucy on the couch as she "nurses" her babies and drags me back and forth from the playroom to the couch again to set up her fort with cushions and pillows.  My daughter sharing with me is also its own reqard.  But, I'm not saying its easy for me to do these things.  I'm working on it.

Tonight I'm in Madison for a conference. My friend in town is sick so I went to her house and made us dinner, we talked a bit and I left her to get to bed. Now I am going to go for a walk, purchase some sort of a desserty item just for me, maybe soak my feet in the hot tub, come back and veg out and do one thing at atime for the rest of the night.