Multi-tasking

Why does it seem that women with multiple children are great at multi-tasking?  Honestly I see mothers with four children, calm and collective, able to keep a head count of everyone and give every one the attention they need.  I fear what I may look like in public with my two kiddos wanting to run in opposite directions, and I literally have said out loud, "Crap, where is Ayden?"  I am getting better at trying to maintain the chaos, but there are days I need a nap more than the kids do after an excursion to the museum or the zoo!

In light of a wonderful Monday, I will share one of my chaotic stories of attempting to multi-task this weekend.  Tyler and I took the kids to go swimming at the Y.  It was great.  We went early in the morning and had the pool to ourselves for over 45 minutes.  The kids swam and played for over an hour and just had a blast.  Then it was the dreaded  time to get out and get washed off.  We are really good about giving warnings and there was a struggle to get out of the pool, but it was managed and some how I ended up going into the locker room with both children.  Yes, Tyler was given the luxury of showering and getting ready alone, and I was going to make the attempt to get three washed off and ready.  So here we go...I finally corralled everyone into the locker room, grabbed the towels and shampoo, got both kids in the shower and Audrey had to pee.  So I had Ayden sit on one of the step stools and I took Ayden to the stall so she could go to the bathroom.  I was in eye sight of Ayden, but he decided he was going to turn the water on and it in return scared him because he wasn't actually expecting to be able to do it.  So he is running into the bathroom area to get rescued from the big, mean water and Audrey is announcing how everything came out okay.  Serious chaos going on, but we all managed to get back to the shower and they both got rinsed off and put in a towel.  I however am still dripping wet and it is obvious I will be toweling off and just throwing clothes back on.  I get Ayden in his diaper and pants and Audrey in her underwear and they are just getting antsy.  Both decided to jump down off the bench and they begin to antagonize the poor patrons in the locker room.  Audrey is running around laughing and squealing and Ayden is growling and flirting with anyone that will look his way.  I corral the beasts back to the bench, finish getting them dressed, and bribe them with a snack while I attempt to throw clothes on so we can just get out of the locker room and go home.  We get out of the locker room and there is Tyler, peacefully sitting at a table waiting for us.  At that moment I want to tell him my drama and ask why he couldn't help, but I realized it was a lost cause to get mad because I could envision him with just one kid and he would have been stressed further than me. 

As much as I want to admit I am a good multi-tasker, I do believe I need more practice before I can say that I have that quality mastered.