Super Woman = Multi-Tasker with a touch of ADHD

I believe all mom's are Super Human Beings.  How else do you wipe a baby's butt, throw in a load of laundry, and send an email to your work address with a power point attached to it, all in one big SWOOP!  The other day I was doing just that.  I think sometimes I may even have a touch of ADHD.  Much of my thoughts are scatter brained with things like, folding clothes, should I enroll the kids into preschool, did I put that latch on the drawer that Thing Two was messing with, how many loads can I wash with this much detergent and where can I get it for cheaper, should Thing One go to tee ball...and ON and ON.  I blame my parents for this.  Yes there, I said it!

My parents,  Sarge and Mami always had me in an activity of some sort or other.  I remember when I was about eight years old I had Folkloric dance on Mondays, baton on Tuesdays, Girls Scouts on Wednesday, Gymnastics on Thursdays, and Fridays were reserved for family dining out time.  Saturday's I would be shuffled into the car so that we could go to East Los Angeles and go visit friends of my parents and go grocery shopping.  Sunday's, the day of rest were spent at church and lunch at the park.  My goodness!  I was a busy little child! No wonder it followed me into adulthood! If I don't have 5 million things going on in my life, I wonder...is something missing?

The other day I caught myself online looking for things for my kids to do.  Saturdays we spend at Gymboree and I was looking at Mommy and Me ballet classes for Thing Two.  Then I began to look at the tee-ball schedules for Thing Two.  We have already signed up for parent workshops at the library for Thursday evenings, which work like a preschool.  Did I mention that Thing One is taking two weeks of Fall swimming classes at the community center? I stopped and thought, this is what my parents did to me! OH MAN!  So I asked Mami, why did they involve me in so many things when I was little.  She simply stated "Oh mija, you asked to be in all that stuff and your face lighted up every time you went to your special activities".  So I wonder have I always had to have a circus running?  Maybe I do have ADHD!

Then I thought of Thing One and Thing Two.  Both of my lovely children like to be active, like to be stimulated.  If I ever saw an ounce of stress with all these activities I involve them in, I would certainly eliminate it.  Maybe my parents knew I loved all the activities and that it wasn't stressing me out and I was actually benefiting from all this activity.  I learned to multi-task and organize my time.  Imagine that! 

I can only hope Thing One and Thing Two can see it that way.  Until then, bring on ballet, tee ball, soccer, story time, and playgroups! 

You have a WHAT?!?!

Last night as I do every night I was bathing both Thing One and Thing Two.  I've never found it odd that I bathe my children together, even if they are a boy and girl, it's never been an issue for me.  Actually it was for the most part a time saver.  Two kids, one bath, killed two birds with one stone.

Back to last nights bath.  Since Thing One has been potty trained he has this quirk that he pulls at his private part all the time.  I've read this is pretty normal, for me it's mostly the fact that he yanks it so hard he may hurt himself one day.  So as I have always done I gently remind him that he does not need to touch it unless he is going to the bathroom.  So there was Thing Two yanking at himself.  I finally had to say "Thing One, stop pulling at your penis!".  Thing Two is in the repeat stage and follows her brother Thing One's every movement, so you can imagine what came next.  Thing Two points to her private parts and says "PENIS!".  My thought was, ok we haven't told her the name of her part.  I told her "No Thing Two, you have a vagina".  What ensued next brought me to tears.  Thing One looks at himself and says " I have a GINA too! See!" (points to private part)  I wanted to laugh so hard, but I kept it together.  Then I repeated to Thing One that he had a penis.  Thing One in his loudest 3 year old voice says "NO! They match mommy!"  Well I almost was crying from the laughter. 

So there I am, wanting to share this with someone and so I text message Big Cheese to let him know what had happened.  I don't know if he was a little perplexed and maybe even a little disturbed by the fact that this had occurred.  He just was confused.  What do we do?  Should we have them bathe together?  I guess at that moment I realized that we had different parenting styles.  I'm all about being open with my children, letting them ask questions and having the accurate information for them.  That is why I refuse to have Thing One call his private parts "wee wee" or his "pee pee".  He knows he has a penis and now he has a name for his sister's anatomy.  I guess some people are still a little closed off and private when it comes to children learning the correct terms for their anatomy, and that's ok. 

So am I going to separate them in the shower?  I suppose eventually I will have to. For now I think it's pure and simply an observation for both of them and they are learning about the uniqueness in their own body.  Others may have other opinions about what I do, but I see nothing wrong in what I am doing so far with them.  So what did I say to Big Cheese?  Well that's easy, the same thing I do with Thing One and Thing Two.  I let him ask questions and I gave him accurate and concerete answers.  Sometimes Adults need to be approached the same way as young children. ;)