Oh the brain, you tricky thing. I just completed my 2nd [out of 16] week back in school.
Yeay! Right now, even tho my class is Human Development, we're learning a lot of basic Psychology stuff because obviously all these things are intertwined. It's slightly stressing me out cause when I took Psych 100 like 7 years ago, I failed it.
But I'm starting to believe that in some people's cases, hopefully mine, the older you get the wiser you get and this time around Psychology is actually starting to make a little sense!
Right now we're learning about the brain and ATTENTION. It might not surprise you, and I don't know why it surprised me but our attention is like a pie, it can't get any bigger than what it is it can only be divided in different ways.
When my teacher was explaining this he talked about multi-taskers, of which I definitely am one, and about how they think they are so great that they can do all these things at once when really you're not giving any one thing your full attention. I was offended. Multi-tasking has always been one of my greatest abilities. As a mother I have stopped children from falling off tables, while sweeping the kitchen & talking on my phone. That's a skill right?
But where I thought I saw strength I'm starting to see weakness. Andy brought up with me the other day that it seemed like the kids always stress me out, this is true, they do. That doesn't mean I don't love them, cherish them, would give my life to them but oh, do they stress me out. Andy is the nurturer in our family, as much as you would expect it to be Mom, Andy is the one. He can sit on the couch and snuggle with them all day. Watch Pete's Dragon without getting up or looking at his phone ONCE. He can read with them, do math lessons, teach them to make Top Ramen. All this is done with patience, kindness and no yelling involved.
Does this make him a better parent than me? I really hope not. It was something we both had to come to understand, I love my family differently. I love them by running around like a chicken with my head cut off. By starting a load of laundry, making a grocery list, helping Lily with a worksheet, setting up a play date & yelling at Oliver to stop biting his brother at the same time. This is how I function. To me there are just not enough hours in the day to pause, to sit down at the table while the kids are eating lunch, there are dishes to wash, children to tame & muffins to bake at the same time. But it saddened me to think that my husband could look at me and think my children just stress me out.
As much as I hate to admit I may need to change as a Mother, I understand. I see how much he loves being with his kids, watching them ride bikes, and talking to them that I want to be like that too. The house will never be clean. The laundry will never be done. Oliver will never stop terrorizing everyone. So, I'm trying. This is a semi-new revelation so don't expect too much of me as of yet!
But I'm trying, if anything to be aware, to know when I'm doing too much and making the conscious decision that maybe my kids as people come first and not their next meal, or a made bed, or a certain Kitty towel freshly washed.
So I've been trying. To slow down. To focus. When I'm older will I be happy all the attention I gave to the things that dirtied themselves again, or will I be happy to know I sat with my daughters and painted their nails?
I cooked lunch WITH Lily today instead of telling her to just "Let me hurry up and do it myself."
I still cleaned the kitchen while we made Play-Doh tonight but hey.....baby steps right?
Home-Made Play-Doh
1 1/2 cups AP Flour
1 1/2 cups water
1 tbs. Vegetable Oil
1/2 tbs. Cream of Tartar
3/4 cup Iodized Salt
Food Coloring [any kind]
[1] In a medium saucepan mix together all the ingredients, any order is fine & make it any color you want! Although I will warn you making a pretty Violet is doomed to begin with.
[2] Place saucepan on medium low heat. Using a wooden spoon stir constantly.
[3] The "batter" will start to dry up and become a ball, this can take a few minutes. About 5 or so. Just keep stirring and watch the consistency.
[4] When it's starting to look like Play-Doh take it off the heat and turn it out onto a table to cool for a bit.
[5] When it's cool enough to handle, I just start right away because I have asbestos hands, knead it like dough till it forms a smooth consistency. Play on!
[6] Store in Ziploc bags or containers. Not sure how long it will last since ours magically disappears somewhere before the 2 week mark.
