Multi-Tasking Squared

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I have now been a parent for twelve weeks. This means that I am only moderately less certain of how to raise fabulously well-adjusted and attractively well-behaved children as I was thirteen weeks ago.

I have also now been a working mother for five weeks. I work from home three days a week and am in the office the other two.

I will let you in on a few secrets: with 473 square feet of living space for two adults, a baby, a home office, and a mostly dead plant, everything but the plant and baby had better be multitasking.

The other day S.O.S. and I had company over for dinner and as I was pulling the pasta off of our stove (doubling as counter-top), I quietly asked S.O.S. if he thought we should clear off the dining table so our guests could eat there rather than using barstools as TV tables. He whispered back that if we had wanted our guests to feel welcome and comfortable, they probably should not be witness to the conversion of diaper changing table to dining table. Oops.

The bar stools are great. Every home office / nursery / living room should have some. Besides the previously mentioned success as TV tables, bar stools also make great desks by day and rocking chair ottomans by night.

As far as the mother/employee, we are coordinating a massive chart to show which activities can be accomplished in each of the various scenarios facing mother and child. We've made great progress on it so far. Going across the top of the chart are baby states of being: "Baby Awake and Happy", "Baby Awake and Fussy", "Baby Awake and Wanting to Play", "Baby Eating", "Baby Sleeping", etc. Down the side of the chart are Mama states of being: "One Hand Free", "Two Hands Free", "No Hands Available", and "Too Little Sleep Last Night to Care".

As far as finding time to blog, let me just say that some day soon I plan on teaching myself how to type with my toes.

Comments

Vicki Carroll said…
You can do it! Oh, yes, you can! =)
10:20 PM
Matthew Carroll said…
While reclining in my (JAF cast off) desk chair with infant sleeping on my chest, I have researched the options for one-handed keyboarding.
2:35 AM
Emily (Laundry and Lullabies) said…
Do you have a sling? I found a good quality ring sling (no padding, for easy adjustment) to be indispensable for keeping baby happy while trying to get other things done at the same time. And now a shameless self-plug:

www.lullabyslings.etsy.com

:)
8:01 AM
slowlane said…
Matthew, I wrote most of the post (and nearly all of this comment) with one hand. I'm not quite up to a respectable speed yet, but I'll get there with enough practice. =)

Emily, someone gave us a BabyBjorn carrier that he absolutely loves... as long as I am not doing something boring. (Boring translates to anything around the house.) Outside of the house he can be in that thing for hours and hours and forget he is hungry.
12:41 PM
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