multitaskingdoesnotexist

When we decided the time had come to potty train our son cold turkey, my husband and I picked out a day we both had free. We wanted to work together to help training go smoothly, so we cancelled all plans and spent the day shuttling our son to and from the bathroom. Luckily, the day went great! We were able to switch off holding our 4-month-old son and helping his older brother go to the bathroom. When one of us was in the bathroom, the other was taking care of our infant. We had a fantastic system!

Then, day two of potty training arrived, and my husband had to go back to work. I was on my own. At that point, my infant was still only taking naps in my arms, and I thought there was no way I would be able to get his brother on the potty without waking the baby.

Sure enough, my younger son fell asleep in my arms, and about 15 minutes later his brother shouted, “I think I have to go potty!” I took a deep breath and thought, “OK, I can do this!” While I firmly gripped my sleeping newborn in my left arm, I used my right hand to help my toddler pull his underwear down and make his way on to the potty. Within seconds we heard that wonderful tinkling sound. We then flushed, washed our hands, and got the underwear back on. And the best part about it all? My baby slept through the whole thing. It was one of those moments when I felt like I really had this whole motherhood thing down.

When I got pregnant last year, I was pretty terrified at the idea of having two children, because I had no idea how I would juggle both of them at the same time. Now that I have six months behind me as a mother of two, I have learned two things:

1. You develop super amazing abilities to multitask when you become a mother, and these superpowers grow with each child you welcome into your family.

2. It’s amazing the amount of things you can do one handed.

After reveling in my ability to potty train while holding a sleeping baby, I was curious about what other moms have been able to accomplish one handed, so I posted this Facebook poll:

“What’s the craziest thing you’ve done one handed while holding a baby? (Bonus points if said baby was sleeping.)”

A lot of responses involved household chores and daily tasks:

“Put on a toddler’s shoes.”

“Cooked dinner — the biggest challenge is definitely taking things out of the oven!”

“Made chocolate chip pancakes.”

“Hemmed curtains. Had to use my mouth to feed the fabric in straight through the machine, but I was determined. He slept right through the noise.” (Serious bonus points here.)

“Screwing fence planks back in place… in a hurry.”

“While living in a second-floor apartment, I had the baby in one hand (asleep and secured safely in the carseat) and 11 bags of groceries in the other hand and looped up my arm, while hoofing it up the stairs. BONUS: The tree by my parking space was inhabited by a feisty mockingbird who thought my hair bun was a threat. I was running and swatting at it while screaming.”

There was also pet care:

“Picked up dog poop.”

“Fed goats and chickens.”

A couple moms handled crises like champs:

“Gave my baby a nebulizer breathing treatment on an airplane in the stewardess galley. I was sitting in a small pull-down seat, balancing the machine on my lap along with the baby, all the while the stewardesses made dinner for everyone, squeezing in and out of the same cramped area as they loaded their serving carts.”

“Nursed my newborn son to the left while with my right hand shut off a hot water heater flooding the apartment.”

And because midwives are just awesome:

“A midwife held my son one handed while handing instruments to the midwife doing my exam. I was quite impressed, and my baby was happy the whole time!”

It really is amazing the things we can accomplish while holding our babies! What are some of the crazy things you’ve done while holding a baby?

 

1 COMMENT

  1. Does the things we get done while carrying a baby in a wrap count? In that case: Pretty much everything that doesn’t involve the need for relevant protective gear. (Muck out the stables? Check. Ride? Nope.)

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