The other morning, while driving in heavy traffic on a 5 lane freeway, I glanced over to my right to begin changing lanes. There, in the car next to me, was a man casually READING THE NEWSPAPER, while steering the wheel! He turned the page and perused the headlines as if he were sitting in a diner enjoying morning coffee.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
If I hadn't been 3 feet from the semi in front of me going 65, I would have used my camera phone to snap his picture. My heart raced. My anger boiled. How dare he do something so stupid? Putting peoples' lives at risk so you can know who won the game last night? Idiot.
I fumbled with my phone to call my husband. I had to put down the granola bar and turn down the radio, change lanes and watch for road construction. Now I've seen everything and I have to share my disgust. "Can you believe it?" I say. "Hang on. Pot holes." I maneuver past and keep harping.
I've thought a lot about that man in the past few days. I've had to admit that I'm not always as focused on actual driving per se while operating a motor vehicle. While I would never read a large newpaper draped over the steering wheel, I HAVE turned around a full 180 to swat a misbehaving kid or pass a juice drink back. I've looked up phone numbers in my daytimer and dialed the phone as I've cruised along. I regularly unwrap Whataburger hamburgers and peel open the ketchup to dip my fries. I've been known to dig in my purse for lipstick or gum. I've jotted important websites and information I've heard on the radio.
It's all part of being a multitasker. Moms just have to be able to do several things at once and keep more than one train of thought going.
"Junior, stop picking your nose." I wonder when our tax forms will come in the mail? Keep washing dishes. Do a couple leg lifts while standing at the sink.
But I've found that I'm doing so many things at once that I'm not really paying attention to any ONE of them. I'll turn on the news to find out tomorrow's weather and then not remember what they said because I'm reading the back of the Kraft Macaroni and Cheese box. Boil seven-to-nine minutes. Wait, did they say seventy-nine degrees? Rats.
Or because children chatter endlessly about nonsensical things, I tune out the 5 gazillion words and miss the 25 important ones. I don't turn and look at them and truly listen. Or I become frustrated with their constant neediness for physical help doing things, that I forget to sit down and read that storybook they love, admire their latest lego creation, or simply hold someone who wants some extra love.
Multitasking is a necessary skill. But it has its limits. I've forgotten whole conversations and important decisions, like who's picking up who when, because I'm not paying attention. I've really found that I'm at my best when I can focus on what I'm doing. Blogging certainly challenges my focusing abilities. I can't help with seventh grade math AND write a coherent sentence at the same time. It's one or the other. Hence, the 50 on the homework grade and the misspelled words online.
I wrote about Aspiring at the beginning of the year. I'm adding to my short list of aspirations the following:
FOCUS.
When I'm driving, drive. When I'm eating, eat. When I'm talking with G.T., stop glancing at the computer screen. When I'm making dinner, turn off the T.V. Aspire to listen better. Aspire to juggle less at one time. Concentrate on the task at hand.
But I'll still do leg lifts while washing dishes.
Well, maybe just a few butt-crunches.
