The queen (and joker) of multitasking

We are now into the third week of little man being here and my partner is beginning to feel more like herself again, which is a relief, as seeing someone you love struggle is not something you enjoy, and all whilst we learn how to be parents. I really don’t know how she has managed so well over the past few weeks. There is no way I could have.
Because when all is said and done, I’m just a man.
It’s not the pain on its own that I couldn’t cope with as I’ve been through my fair share of knocks and traumas (some of which you wouldn’t believe). It’s the coping with the pain whilst trying to do something else that would have KO’d me [i.e., knocked me out], like it would do all us men. Because to deal with pain and learn new skills slips into the territory of our arch nemesis: multitasking. Even saying the word makes me feel queasy.
However, seeing my partner expertly handle more than two things at once not only leaves me in awe but also baffles me as I’m not sure the things she does are even possible. For example, going back to the second day Ben was here, I watched her polish off an entire helping of macaroni and cheese whilst breastfeeding, without dropping a single spiral of pasta from her fork. And she did this with her legs still not working properly from the spinal they had to give her. She really is quite amazing and is such a natural at parenting. (Which is pretty obvious from the picture.)
I’m still in a place where if I have to breathe and blink at the same time I get a headache.
And yesterday she, again whilst feeding (my little boy has quite the appetite) she applied her makeup expertly using her iPad (other brands available) as a mirror, whilst listening to me ramble on about some project I’m working on and even being able to humor me with wonderfully articulated responses. Although I can’t be sure, I think she may have even been writing a shopping list at the same time with her feet!
And again, being a man I’ve been known to pause mid-sentence to …
Sorry, what was I saying? I just had to blink.
Joking aside though, her ability to multitask has been an eye opener for me because when it matters the ability to do so is so important. My little man, like a lot of babies, hates his nappy being changed and sometimes he becomes quite distressed and holds his breath. If you’ve never experienced this, it is terrifying, and at first I thought something was terribly wrong. It turns out some babies do this, and when they do comfort helps. My partner can do both. She can change his nappy and comfort him at the same time. I am struggling to despite having done most of the nappy changes because I still have to focus on what I’m doing—and so when he becomes upset I have to stop mid-change to comfort.
It’s only a small thing, but one I really must master soon. There’s only so many times you can be wee’d on and still find it funny, so I’m facing my nemesis head on! And although I will never be as multi-taskingly amazing as my partner, I’m on the way, and once I’ve cracked the nappy change whilst being able to do anything else I’ll let you (and the whole world) know.
Until then, I’ll watch my partner in a state of amazement of how she is with our little boy.