Mommy Brain???

After Terri posted her thoughts on 'Mommy Brain', it really got me thinking about it. It is a phrase I have used for years, not only on myself but on friends that had kids long before I did. I used to be one of those people that could remember the most unimportant little details about almost everything. Then I turned 30! I could tell that I was losing brain cells. My girlfriend was pregnant with her first child at the time and relied on me to remember things. I still remember one day when she asked me a simple question about a date - I looked at her, my mind churning, and realized that I had no idea what she was talking about. She looked at me in horror and said "Oh no!!! Now what am I going to do? My calender is broke!" To this day, she doesn't rely on me to remember anything!!!

I could tell that I wasn't as "sharp" as I used to be, but I didn't think it was too bad. Until I got pregnant that it. Good grief - I thought the baby was sucking my brain right out of my head. And if that wasn't bad enough, then once Emma was born, what little brain power remained must have been left at the hospital. There are days that I realize if God had not permanently attached my head to my body - it would get left somewhere. This is not a good thing!

Now to give those of us with 'Mommy Brain' credit...................we are busy women. We have a person that is dependent on us for everything! Plus, the house, meals to prepare, loads of laundry, shopping, a husband, and for some of us a job outside the home. We have to by necessity, become major multitaskers. Some days I do okay with the whole multitasking thing, but other days..........................not so much! I now have to write everything down. If it doesn't get written down - it most likely will not be done or remembered. And once I write it down, I have to remember where I wrote it!

Quiet time for me is pretty much a thing of the past. It does happen occasionally but usually in very small doses. The shower, the car (after I have dropped Emma off and before I go to pick her up), when Emma goes to bed (and Steven is out of town) and the rare times I am home by myself. These are the times I attempt to get my brain back in gear. Sometimes it actually works for a short spell. But 9 times out of 10, as soon as I have to contemplate doing two things at once or remember something that has nothing to do with the task at hand I am once again at a loss! I would love to think that it will get better, but I am pretty sure that it just isn't going to happen. Once a mommy, always a mommy! And all I have to do is look at my own mother, she also has to write things down :-)