Mommy A.D.D.

“Hello, My name is Jenna, and I have Mommy A.D.D.

Hi, Jenna.

It’s been 5 minutes since my last distraction.

*clapping*

Ooh, something shiny! Dang it!”

Anyone else feel this way? I had 30 minutes to myself the other day – 30 blissful, uninterrupted minutes of doing whatever it was my heart desired. But I couldn’t seem to focus my energies on what I wanted to do. I had so many options! I could have – read a magazine, put away laundry, TAKEN A BUBBLE BATH, taken a nap, played outside with my kids, put away more laundry, finished the dishes, checked my email, thrown away the regular mail…. the list was endless.

My husband was outside washing my car for me, with the kids in tow. [A great man, let me tell you. A great man.]  I love having a clean house, but my husband loves having clean cars. So, I told him, “While you do that, I’m going to wash a load of laundry and put some things away.” But once that was done, I said, “I’m going to do a load of dishes and then read the rest of my book.” Then I got distracted and came back outside to tell him, “I’m going to vacuum the house and then mop.” And that’s when he told me – “You have A.D.D.”

What?

He told me I can’t stop and focus on one thing at a time – I always have to be doing multiple things. I know that women are multi-taskers, and I fit that bill “to a T”. Right now, for instance, I have several windows open – I’m chatting with my husband on Gmail, I’m reading blogs on my Google Reader, someone is friend-ing me on Facebook, and I’m needing to print this coupon for Chick-fil-A.

But, is more really better? I think sometimes distractions are welcome, but sometimes they are merely… distracting. How do I have better focus? I’m afraid that if I don’t do everything at once, nothing will get done. I love when things get finished and I don’t like starting things. My husband is the opposite. He loves starting things and doesn’t like to finish them.

I wouldn’t say this is actual adult A.D.D. (even though I know there is such a thing). I’d just say I’m the Mother of Distractions.

jenna blogs at [kevin and jenna [dot] com]. The funny thing is, she can’t even blame her kids for this condition she calls “Mommy A.D.D.”.

4 Responses to Mommy A.D.D.
  1. Kelly
    May 28, 2010 | 10:33 am

    So true.

    I truly think the female penchant for multitasking is a blessing and a curse. Sometimes, it allows us to accomplish more than physically possible. But more often, it splits our already-overworked brains into tiny fragments that doesn’t allow us to focus on a blessed thing.

  2. Michael
    May 28, 2010 | 1:41 pm

    Multitasking is a myth created by people who want to pretend they are smarter than you. (See my post http://yournamehereguide.wordpress.com/2009/12/19/the-miracle-of-multitasking/ on the topic.)

    ADD is the American Dysfunction Disease, which prevents us from doing the absolutely best thing we can learn from all those Europeans: how to relax. Now, if you could just block out some time on your calendar to really concentrate hard on relaxing….

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  4. Para Ma
    April 15, 2012 | 3:16 pm

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