As I was washing bottles last week, an episode of Ellen was playing on the DVR. Amen for the DVR! We rarely watch TV and when we do it is always something in the DVR. If we didn’t have a DVR we’d probably succumb to watching Judge Judy and Hoarding: Buried Alive. Anyways, Ellen did a bit about multitasking and it struck a chord with me. She moaned about how awful it was that people multitask all the time, especially while watching her show. Then she demonstrated vacuuming while pushing a baby in a walker simultaneously. LOVED it! As I reeled through a typical day, I thought of all the scenarios where I multitask. Some out of pure necessity, others need to stop immediately. As far as wrangling babies, with four multitasking is often a must. And sorry, Ellen, but I can only enjoy your show while doing various chores such as laundry folding and bottle washing. At least I tune in sometimes! However, I am making a vow to be present for my children when they are not sleeping. I will stop doing things such as oh texting while sitting on the quilt with them or perusing an email or two. Those things can wait! That’s what naps are for.
Most days, it is me and the babies at home. I try to capture what we do by snapping pictures of them, but since I’m alone, no one captures what I do. Nisey and Grandpa stopped by on Saturday for a visit and captured some of multitasking mania. Looking back at some of it, I just had to smile. It’s quad life, what can I say?
Yes, this picture was sort of staged. However, when alone I often look like this. I’ve got Harper practicing sitting, Rylin is doing modified tummy time, Sydney is practicing her standing, and Mason is pushing up on his arms. I also burp babies by putting one on each thigh and holding one.
Grandpa stepped in so Sydney could go upside down.
During tummy time, the babies help me work out my biceps. I start with Harper and do about 10 reps, then switch to a lighter baby for another 10-15. They also work their abs as they flex to keep their limbs out straight.
Okay, I’m probably not multitasking here, but I’ve got to show how much they LOVE going upside down now! I may be singing or chattering to them so maybe a bit of multitasking.
Even with extra feeders, someone is still multitasking by feeding two babies!
Dad snapped this picture of me spoon feeding Mason while bottle feeding Rylin.. I had no idea I was even doing it!
Even Nisey is juggling all four babies in her lap. Clearly she ran out of room!
Grandpa was helping entertain both Sydney and Stella at the same time. They really enjoyed gazing at each other through the glass.
After changing diapers, George strolled into the living room like this proclaiming, “I’ve got three of them!” I guess he just didn’t have room to carry a fourth.
How do you multitask? Any multitasking habits you’d like to break? If you text and drive, please stop that one ASAP.
hugs!
Amber
Four to Adore 
Multitasking is essential! I like your vow to be present when the babies are present, I recently made a similar vow. They are only this age once, and the only multitasking we need to do is play with 4 at once! I also am trying out a new idea: A baby of the day. Every day I am focusing a little extra on one baby. Today is Lauren’s day– she got play/therapy on the ball longer than anyone else! Plus extra snuggles & cuddles. I will let you know how the rest of the week goes!
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I like the baby a day idea! We are forced to multi task baby cares, but they need individual attention too. Let me know how it goes.
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I unlike you two never multitask!!! Okay maybe just a little. Since I am eating lunch, pumping, and checking fb all at the same time. I love the baby a day thing. I have one for each day of the week! We are all awesome multitaskers and I have to say sitting on the couch for an hour to watch Ellen sounds lovely but I think I would fall asleep if I wasn’t doing three other things while watching.
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LOL, If I am still for more than 30 minutes I’ll fall asleep too! Hence, multitasking what watching TV. How else would I keep the house sort of clean???
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I love that picture of George holding three of them!! I have a hard time even holding 2, I can’t imagine 3 or even 4 at a time!
I am also trying to be more conscious about being present when the babies are awake. Besides when they are feeding, which actually goes better if I don’t pay attention, I try to keep the TV off and the phone just for music. But I also do try to give the babies at least 10 minutes of play time together without me being around, so I will go off and do online grocery shopping or make myself something to eat. I want them to be able to play with each other without me, so I am giving them some practice.
It’s amazing how multi-tasking becomes such an ingrained part of your life that it’s hard to focus on one thing at a time. It is sometimes hard for me to hold conversations now because I am always either doing something else or thinking about what I could be doing while talking. There is so much to do at all times that I have a hard time settling down. Wow, I think this could be a post of my own, ha!
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Like you, one thing I never do when the babies are awake is have the TV on. The LOVE TV and will crane their necks to watch it so badly they don’t do whatever baby things they need to do. I do find myself totally distracted by thoughts and the ping of my phone though. I turned FB notifications off because it pinged all the time.
I like your idea of giving them time to play independently with each other for a few minutes. I don’t want to be their sole source of entertainment. I just need to do a less distracted job of playing when it’s time.
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My 3 love being upside down too, especially to watch the tv!! I’m totally guilty of doing other things while the babies are awake, I need to make more of an effort to ignore everything else except them. They have started crying when I leave the room so they force me into attention sometimes 😉 Is lockdown almost over???? Does that mean play dates in our future?? 🙂
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It is all a balancing act I think. I want to be fully present with them while also fostering independence. What I really want to stop is checking my phone during playtime. I’m so bad about it!
Lockdown is almost a thing of the past! Just got the final synagais today!
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Amber, I just can’t imagine doing all that at my age. I’m so glad you guys are young and that you’ve got help. Really great to see pictures of the quads with your folks. Give them all hugs from Suzi and me. Love and Blessings, Jack
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Funny you say that, a fellow quad mama just polled the group to see how much they felt aged by quads. As of now, I don’t feel the effects too much, but I’m sure time will tell! It is a good thing we didn’t have to wait tooooo long for them to arrive.
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