Things I've Gotten Better At, and Things I'm Not So Much

This post is inspired by Daddy Doing Work's Six Things I suck At Now that I'm a Parent. I realized that I have gotten skilled at a few odd tasks which never seemed useful before but now I am thankful that I am such a natural at them. Here they are:

Using my Feet

Actually, this one isn't really new. My step-dad used to get mad when I used my feet to turn on the VCR, press play, remove the video, etc. Now the dextrosity of my toes is very handy. I walked around today picking up all the items I needed with a fussy baby who wanted to be upright in my arms. Cloth is easiest, or things with straps. Books are hardest. Blueberries are not recommended. The trick is once you get it about knee high-- can you then grab it, or must you bring it all the way to your waist? 

Typing One-handed/at Very Odd Angles

I've always been pretty uptight about grammar and punctuation. As an English teacher, it seemed a requirement. I'm considering relaxing my stance, but I still feel really weird if I don't correct a missing apostrophe, or if I don't capitalize. It stays with me all day. Almost makes me want to give up typing completely. 

Eating/"Prepping Food" One-Handed

I put "prepping food" in quotes because I just got up with one hand supporting O on the breast-friend (pillow), got out a container of refried beans, cut some cheese rudimentarily, and plopped back down to my "meal". I called beans a la tupperware.

Being Bossy

Believe it or not, I used to have a hard time asking others to do things for me. Now that I have no choice, it's liberating. My dad has probably received the majority of my bossiness, but that's because he is utterly untamed, and every domestic item must be explained: how to change a diaper, boil noodles, open the dishwasher, etc. 

Cooking

It's amazing what can be done when you don't come home exhausted after wrangling 13-year-olds all day. When Shannon entertains Ollin, I can come up with some pretty decent meals. This will most likely change in September. At least I have time to get a few favorites under my belt. 

Sitting on the Couch

Well, honestly, I perfected this one during pregnancy. And then someone told me that this most relaxed position wasn't good for my baby's birth position. Dammit! So I perfected laying on the couch, which is not as easy as it sounds when you're huge and your couch is actually a puffy love seat. I got so good at it that sometimes I had to wake up in the middle of the night, have a snack and lay on the couch rather than go back to bed. 

Now, I could still use more exercise, but I have no guilt about sitting here, breastfeeding for hours upon hours. For some reason, my baby sleeps best with a nipple in his mouth. So I have a station set up, and I'm quite good at sitting here. 

Efficiency

I am getting this one, but it's still a work in progress. I know the importance of it, and at times I succeed in getting the diaper packed, the baby packed, and myself some water and a snack without going back upstairs five times or re-opening the garage door. Today I was actually on the freeway before I realized I had to go back for something. But in general, I'm more efficient than when I just had myself to tend to and I still made multiple trips back inside and upstairs. And, I often do something ahead of time because I know that by the time it needs to be done I'll be breastfeeding or otherwise indisposed! So proud of myself.

Things I'm worse at:

Being passive. I don't have time to sit around and wait for someone else to decide to take action or wonder if it is my place to say something, etc. I do try to sensor myself at our moms' group, though you probably wouldn't know it. I'd like to have an individual conversation with each person, or just co-facilitate. But apparently that's not my job. 

Thinking about work. 

Exercise.

Taking my vitamins on schedule.

I'm sure there's more, or at least there will be when I go back to work part time in September. I'll keep you posted...