Having a kid really highlights your shortcomings as a human being.

First off, I want to acknowledge that I know toddlers don’t typically have a long attention span. But I think in watching Ishu zip around from one activity to the next within mere seconds of one another, I have started realizing that focus and stamina are skills that can be taught and practiced.

We can stretch out time doing something. Slowly.

But wanna know the best way to teach something? 

IS BY MODELING IT.

And, I gotta be honest, this is really, REALLY highlighting how hard it is for me to sustain focus and do one thing at a time. 

When I’m brushing my teeth with one hand, I’m simultaneously loading the dishwasher with another. Or moving laundry into the dryer. 

When I’m folding clothes, I don’t first fold ALL the clothes and THEN go put them away. I fold a couple things, take it to the other room to put away in drawers, and then see something else I need to do. 

So, from my 2-year olds perspective, Mama is just bopping around from one room to the next. From my 2-year olds perspective, that’s how people do life. 

And that is NOT the message I want to be sending him.

Last night, we were putting vegetables on a tray together. Ishu was helping by picking up mushrooms and onions from the bowl and placing them side-by-side on the tray. 

When he was almost done (but not quite done), I hurried over to the cabinet to pull out the avocado oil. I started spraying the 3/4 of the veggies on the tray. IN THE MIDDLE OF HIM PLACING THEM ON THE PAN. 

Naturally, he saw a new thing and was like, “OOOO, ISHU DO IT,” trying to grab the oil.

Ankur looked up at me and I looked back at him and I said, “What am I even doing?!” 

I took a deep breath.

“Let’s finish this first,” I said to Ishu, as I pushed the oil to the side and pointed back to the vegetables. I stayed right there, leaning up against the counter. But, man, my feet were itching to move around the kitchen and do things to be “efficient.”

All this to say, I’m trying to teach my kid something that I’m not great at. 

Which is hard business.

So, I guess the best plan of action is to practice that shit myself. So the both of us learn that we don’t need to hurry through life. That we can slow down and things will still get done.

Yes, having kids highlights your shortcomings in a lot of ways. But isn’t that a cool thing too? To be able to say, “This is an area of growth for me. And I guess I’ll be (re)parenting both of us so we can both improve at it.”