Motherhood
Today, I read an article in Thriving Family which says so well what I have felt since the day I came home from the hospital with Baby #2 I knew I had to share it here.
The author, Carol Barnier, starts off telling about a talk-show guest who joked that mothers need to borrow a business model and learn to multi-task. "Was he kidding?" she asks and describes the five tasks she was doing at the same moment she was hearing this guy blather about motherhood. ("Blather" is my word, not hers; she's much more charitable.)
She goes on:
"No, Mr. Television Guest, you missed the mark completely. What we moms need, what our minds miss most and what our hearts intensely seek is the seemingly lost ability to monotask. We long for a quiet moment on a porch swing to laugh with a child, a chance to linger over dinner with our husband and the satisfaction of allowing a burgeoning idea to playfully work its way through our brain. Ah...to feel the linear path.
...The world of motherhood is one of perpetual motion. Calendars with no blank days. 'To do' lists that do not end. Spring cleaning that runs deep into August. But multitasking isn't just a solution for improved productivity; it's a value statement that says more is always better and quiet times are unproductive times.
I suspect that God couldn't agree less. The Bible does not say, 'He leadeth me in the path of astounding productivity and dizzying accomplishment whereby He is exceedingly impressed.' No, God wants us to lie down in green pastures, and He wanst to lead us beside still waters to restore our souls.
I know raising children is a season, and a short-lived season at that. One day my kids will be grown. The quiet will be mine to fill and enjoy. I will probably miss the noise and disorder that many little feet used to bring to my world. But when that happens, I intend to read my favorite magazine, from cover to cover, all in one sitting."
Well said, Ms. Barnier.
taken from "Mommy-tasking" in the May/June 2010 Thriving Family from Focus on the Family
The author, Carol Barnier, starts off telling about a talk-show guest who joked that mothers need to borrow a business model and learn to multi-task. "Was he kidding?" she asks and describes the five tasks she was doing at the same moment she was hearing this guy blather about motherhood. ("Blather" is my word, not hers; she's much more charitable.)
She goes on:
"No, Mr. Television Guest, you missed the mark completely. What we moms need, what our minds miss most and what our hearts intensely seek is the seemingly lost ability to monotask. We long for a quiet moment on a porch swing to laugh with a child, a chance to linger over dinner with our husband and the satisfaction of allowing a burgeoning idea to playfully work its way through our brain. Ah...to feel the linear path.
...The world of motherhood is one of perpetual motion. Calendars with no blank days. 'To do' lists that do not end. Spring cleaning that runs deep into August. But multitasking isn't just a solution for improved productivity; it's a value statement that says more is always better and quiet times are unproductive times.
I suspect that God couldn't agree less. The Bible does not say, 'He leadeth me in the path of astounding productivity and dizzying accomplishment whereby He is exceedingly impressed.' No, God wants us to lie down in green pastures, and He wanst to lead us beside still waters to restore our souls.
I know raising children is a season, and a short-lived season at that. One day my kids will be grown. The quiet will be mine to fill and enjoy. I will probably miss the noise and disorder that many little feet used to bring to my world. But when that happens, I intend to read my favorite magazine, from cover to cover, all in one sitting."
Well said, Ms. Barnier.
taken from "Mommy-tasking" in the May/June 2010 Thriving Family from Focus on the Family
"He leadeth me in the path of astounding productivity and dizzying accomplishment whereby He is exceedingly impressed." I LOVE IT!! And "Spring cleaning that runs deep into August." - what about spring cleaning that doesn't even get started? :)
ReplyDelete