Whac-a-Mole

Oh, Whac-a-Mole. That cute little game at carnivals and ChuckECheese (aka the reason wine and earplugs were invented) often pops into my head when I'm trying to wrangle my little Italian jumping beans into their car seats, beds, or straight jackets strollers.

I have always prided myself on being a fabulous multi-tasker. I could read a book, talk on the phone, plan this week's dinner menu and make a mental grocery list, all while running on the treadmill. Backwards, in heels. Of course, that was all in the BC (before children) era. These days I'm lucky if I can pour bowl of cereal, and remember to breathe at the same time.

I'm sure that every mom since the beginning of time, has wished she had three more arms, two more eyes (for the back of her head, of course) and a brain that hasn't been taken over by the theme song to "Yo Gabba Gabba." Feeding the dog, while pouring (and spilling) chocolate milk, sweeping the kitchen floor for the third time in an hour, and trying to say more than 5 words to my husband in a row without hearing "MAAAAAAAAMMMMAAAA" is pretty much impossible. No matter what I do, no matter how many lists I make and how organized I think I am, it all goes out the window most days. Most nights, I am still loading the dishwasher and wiping the crumbs from dinner off the kitchen table at 9:30 pm.

It's not just my Cinderella chores that keep me twitching and pacing 24/7...the wonderful world of technology has added a whole new chapter to my To Do list. Many days, my iPhone might has well be duct-taped to my hand. Many hours are spent texting sarcastic remarks and observations to my mommy partner-in-crime, updating my Facebook with inappropriate Elf pictures and rocking the highest score in Arcade Basketball.

I had thought I was doing a pretty good job juggling everything- kids, work, chores, hubby, texting, swimsuit modeling, until last week. I was steam mopping the living room, and gabbing on the phone, while my little bambinos were sitting on the couch, enjoying everyone's favorite oval headed super cool exploradora. My little man kept saying "Mama, come sit. Mama, come sit" to which I kept replying "In a minute, buddy!" ( If I was a Fisher Price Mommy doll and you pressed my belly button to make me talk, that would definitely be one of my top three phrases, along with "I love you" and "Stop touching your pippy!")

Anyhoo, there I was, multitasking my ever-expanding hiney off, when my wise little three year old, walked over to me, grabbed my mop and my arm and said, "Mama, stop and come sit with me now." My first impulse was to shake him off and repeat my favorite phrase in Dora's native tongue (uno momento, por favor!)and then it hit me. My little man was telling me to slow down, sit down and stop mopping/chatting/planning my days away. So I did. I have to admit, after about 30 seconds of sitting, I heard my phone go off, and I used a whole week's worth of self control not to check it. I remembered that I hadn't made a list of ingredients I needed for Christmas cookies, but I fought the urge not to run to the kitchen for paper and a pen. I realized that my children watching me constantly running around like the Energizer Bunny on crack isn't good parenting. All work and no play makes ANY mama a cranky, cranky gal.Quieting my mind and body, and just vegging out with my babies on the couch, doesn't sound like a tough task, but I know you will all agree that it is way harder than it sounds. Then again, nothing worth having comes easy...and it was worth each and every snugglicious moment.

Here's to a relaxing 2012...well, a girl can dream, right? Cheers!