Sit, sort and fold

I never knew I could be so busy, and sit so often.

Nursing my velcro baby was never a real obstacle when it was only me and baby. Now with a 3 year old to care for, two kids' worth of diapers to wash every day, food to cook and almost nothing for pre-prepared meals, I feel overwhelmed a lot. This kind of fatigue is difficult to explain to parents who never breastfed, or who never breastfed exclusively without bottles, who don't use pacifiers, who throw their diapers in the trash each time, who can eat out a lot, who have family within easy driving distance, whose children enjoy cribs and playpens.

The work I do happens in short, hyper-efficient bursts: I amaze even myself at how much I can do in just 15 minutes: an entire sink full of dishes, start a load of laundry, feed the 3 yo, pick up clutter, get dressed. With 20 minutes I can take my time! Between bursts I read books to my daughter, drink coffee, nurse the baby, change a lot of diapers, eat, cook, read online stuff, work on my zine, go out with the kids to the park or library, put away and sort laundry - all one-handed. I have only busted my ass like this before for work-related activities, and never for all day until 8:00pm.

I cherish my "leisure" time, hours when Chris is off with L. at the homeschool co-op each Thursday. Having to take care of one is tremendously, breathlessly easy. And quiet. I can actually string thoughts together, sometimes more than two! It's a sweet life.

But I do take a certain amount of pride in being able to bust my ass like this at my advanced adult age of 36. My bounce has extra spring with my unusual resilience. This is probably result of the unshakable, kiss-my-round-ass parenting confidence factor, which I unfailingly developed at the tender age of 35. I strongly recommend stubborn, assertive confidence for whatever ails you, mamas. Nobody knows my children better than I do, no one. This does not mean I am infallible; only foolish mamas really believe in their omnitience. I do trust my intuition, though, about every important thing in my life, and my children's lives. No amount of research can persuade or dissuade my mama sense. It's refreshing,

You never know what you can do one-handed until you have to. Try it some time.

Off to sit somewhere else, to nurse, to sort and fold. . . laundry, silly.

Has Carrie had that baby yet??