Maya touching grass for the first time, with Colin looking on (I remember him doing the same at her age)
If there is one concept that motherhood encourages, it is to slow down. Often, I find myself caught in a whirlwind of multi-tasking, as most women do. Then everything comes to a halt as I nurse or tend to Maya in other ways. She doesn’t care about the tasks I’m trying to get done; the small goals I want to cross off my list. As our kids grow, we are often pulled into their world, to view things from their perspective. They are amazed by so much and can easily find so much to laugh it. We end up laughing with them, out of amazement.
Maya laughs easily – when her tummy is nuzzled, when we play silly games, and when her big brother says or does anything. Her laughter is the greatest sound in the world. In those moments, the “Things to do list” fades in the background and all concerns disappear. It’s a feeling to treasure and remember later when we are back in our frenzied whirlwind.
In the Western culture, multi-tasking has been looked upon as part of a positive skill-set. Women, in particular, have gravitated toward trying to squeeze in as many tasks as possible, just because they can. Men know to not even bother, as their brains don’t seem to allow it as much. 😉 The success we feel in occasionally getting more done encourages us to multi-task even more. However, we all know that at times, the productivity is not increased, and sometimes even leads to danger (if we are driving, for instance).
What living in a frenzied way and multi-tasking does normally do is deprive us of moments that we can remember and treasure when it is our turn to “clock out.” Maybe it means that I didn’t take the moment to look out my window and notice something fascinating that my tiger kitty is doing (which he always does). Or worse, maybe I didn’t see my baby reach a milestone, such as sitting up on her own without supporting herself, which she is reaching now.
Like everyone says, these early days with a child go by very quick. I was amazed to see some “recent videos” of Maya and noticed that she was less than 1/2 her current age (about 3 months and now she is almost 7). In totality, she has of course not been on the planet for very long, so everything about her seems recent; but she was so different and much smaller!
Our kids’ rapid growth is amazing. It certainly reminds us of our mortality and that life is about constant change. It’s important to slow down when we can to experience it all.
- Raj (“King” in Hindi, our tiger cat), drinking from our bird bath – fascinating!
As the holidays approach, our stress levels can start to soar. Women in particular feel it as they often feel solely responsible for creating “perfect” holiday memories for their families.