I am a Multi-Tasker.

In the worst way, I am a multi-tasker. As a mother I think this trait is both vital & fatal.

It is vital to multi-task while caring for 2 children when one needs to be held & the other needs a diaper change. I can do that.

It is fatal to multi-task when you are checking your email or texting your friend while you half-heartedly carry on a conversation with your 2-year-old.

Sometimes by trying to "keep up" I miss out. Then I wonder what I am trying to "keep up" with.

I think my draw to check email/blogs/text comes from wanting to feel connected to the outside world. My entire world can unfold within the walls of my home day after day & frankly, sometimes it is boring. Never dull, always something to be done, but still sometimes boring & surely mundane.

I often have to remind myself that what I am doing with my kids in any & every moment is more important than anything else. I have to remind myself to pay attention when they are snuggled up close & to savor it. Because I know it won't last forever & one day I will look back & wish for those moments back.

In order to have those moments though I have to stop "keeping up." I have to allow myself to become disconnected from a world in which I once thrived. I have to throw myself into another world in which I will also thrive.

One of my favorite moments right now is watching Livy settle herself to sleep. She is such an easy going baby, for which I am so grateful. She has found her little thumb & she will go to town sucking on that thing, which makes for easy bedtimes & long naps. Each day I will put her down into her crib fully awake. She whines a couple times, settles in & starts searching for her thumb. When she finds it she goes for it. You can hear her smacking on her thumb through her monitor! She gets all cozy & soothes herself right to sleep. I love watching her learn this & the satisfaction she feels from it. It is a minute or two of my day that I love...and one day it will be gone, but I'm so happy it is here today.