If you Give a Mouse a Cookie

Another mom posted this to our MOPS Facebook page a week or so ago. After we got home from our community group tonight and I started a couple tasks it came to mind...

"If you give a mom a muffin, she'll want a cup of coffee to go with it. She'll pour herself some. Her three-year-old will spill the coffee. She'll wipe it up. Wiping the floor, she will find dirty socks. She'll remember she has to do laundry. When she puts the laundry in the washer, she'll trip over boots and bump into the freezer. Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan supper. She will get out a pound of hamburger. She'll look for her cookbook. (101 Things To Make With A Pound Of Hamburger.) The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail. She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow. She will look for her checkbook. The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old. She'll smell something funny. She'll change the two-year-old. While she is changing the two-year-old the phone will ring. Her five-year-old will answer and hang up. She'll remember that she wants to phone a friend to come for coffee. Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup. She will pour herself some. And chances are, if she has a cup of coffee, her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it."

I started warming up Abigail's mac-n-cheese leftovers, she wanted to help. She brought the stepstool into he kitchen from the bathroom. I remind Abigail the stove is hot and she should not touch it. I reheated leftovers for myself. Since I was already cooking, I decided to prep our dinner for tomorrow night. A pot goes on the stove for boiling water. As I reach for Abigail's fork I remember the dishwasher is clean. Abigail's dinner is served. While the penne is cooking, I toss the other ingredients into a large bowl. I stir the ingredients and splash it all over the sleeve of my Auburn hoodie. I take off the hoodie and toss it by the washing machine. Standing next to the washer I notice Abigail playing instead of eating and I ask her to sit still while she eats. I see the dryer has finished and take the clean towels upstairs. While I'm upstairs, I grab the dirty whites to wash with the hoodie. I get the chicken to bake it for tomorrow's meal and see I forgot to put some cold items into the refrigerator. The chicken goes into the oven and the groceries into the fridge. I wash out the plastic containers and take them out to the recycling bin. This reminds me that if I finish the last glass of wine remaining in the refrigerator then that bottle can go out this week too. I pour myself the last glass. While sipping I see Abagail is again playing and not eating. I announce she does not get a special treat after dinner and will be going straight to bed. I mix the al dente noodles into the bowl and wait for the chicken. I start to wash dishes and remember the dishwasher needs to be unloaded. Some items are still wet, and the mat to let them dry has the coffee maker pieces. I put the coffee maker back together and set it for tomorrow morning. I resume unloading the dishwasher so I can proceed to load tonight's dishes in. Abigail announces she is finished, I hear a plate drop to the floor and Toby scurry over. I place her plate into the sink before moving it to the dishwasher. Realizing how much I multitask reminds me of the post from above and I decide I should blog about it.
Just typing it all out makes me exhausted. Of course I'm always multi-tasking...no wonder my days always seem like 18hr days instead of 24.