Multitasking

Just thinking about some of the new skills I have developed as a Mommy. I can sweep the floor with a baby in one hand. I can eat, cook, and make sandwiches with one hand. I can type while nursing. I can do just about anything while nursing, actually. My peripheral vision and my 6th sense have grown immeasurably. (Usefull senses to have with young children who love to climb and explore) I can change a diaper while a child is standing up. I can perform many tasks in an extrodinarily loud setting. Even ones that require concentration-like bill paying. I can ignore messes that would have driven me to distraction before children. I play referee(already). I can yell loud enough to hurt my voice. I can make all the unhappiness go away with a breast. I am an entire world to a baby. I dole out punishments, kiss boo-boos, and read stories. I can read Goodnight Moon without the book.
As a teenager and young adult I could frequently go without sleep because I'd been out having fun. Now I go without sleep, practically all the time, minus the fun, and have to be able to function because I'm responsible for three little people who need me for everything.
I make more mistakes than I've ever made in my life.....and receive forgiveness almost instantly. And as cheesy and fake as it may sound, it is completely true that my capacity to love has expanded far beyond any point I could ever have imagined before having children. And I was one who ALWAYS knew she wanted kids, so that is saying something. That kind of love is primal and fierce and beautiful. One of the best gifts children give you.