Multi-Tasker

I am an excellent multi-tasker. I'm almost always doing more than one thing at a time. While the baby naps, I'll throw in a load of laundry. But I won't stop there. I know that my dryer takes twice as long as my washer so if I have a load that needs to hang dry, I know that I can essentially get 2 loads washed while one dries. So I'll start with a load of towels, then go with say the sweaters, hang them and wash a load of clothes that will be ready for the dryer at the same time the towels will be ready. Of course, all this is happening while the baby is napping, my toenail polish is drying, the spaghetti sauce is simmering, pictures are downloading from my phone to the computer, and I'm making the bed...while watching The Food Network. Ridiculous?? I wish I were exaggerating. It's efficient, it's smart and it helps me be as productive as I could possibly be. The problem with multi-tasking is that you're never fully focused on one thing at a time. Your attention is divided between the various tasks. When it's laundry and house cleaning, it's not that big of a problem, despite the occasional burnt toast and forgotten task. The problem comes when we multi-task the important stuff. I'm always in the frame of mind that asks "What else could I be doing now?" There's always something else I can do simultaneously, I just have to figure out what it is. So it's kind of automatic to try to think of something else I could be doing.

Today I got a wake up call on my multi-tasker addiction. I woke up with a cold today so I was determined to just take it easy and snuggle with Mary Elizabeth. The house was clean and the laundry was done so it ended up being a pretty good day to be sick. While she was napping, I went and got a shower only to be cut short to the sound of her crying. I got out, toweled off and threw on a robe to go check on her. She was still sleepy, just a little restless. I got her out of her crib and started rocking her. I could tell that she just wanted to snuggle a little. As I rocked her back to sleep, I found myself instinctively thinking "What else could I be doing while I rock her to sleep?" I have a book I've been reading that I thought about but it was all the way down in the car. I could be reading one of my email devotionals on my phone but I had left it in my room. There was nothing else I could do. I looked down at her little angelic features, drifting peacefully back to sleep in my arms. I could be missing this. I had a flash forward to watching her leave for college and then walk down the aisle and I thought, "Why on earth would I want to multi-task my way out of this moment?" These moments are fleeting and there's not a week that goes by that someone doesn't tell me how fast life flies by after kids. And I'd rather accomplish something else or be productive instead of relishing in every precious moment? After the years is praying and waiting for this exact moment?? Are we multi-tasking our life away? Are we sacrificing precious moments for productive minutes?