Multitasking is a must

When you're a Mom you have to know how to multitask. It seems I am never just doing one thing. For instance, I may start out the morning feeding the boys breakfast. Once they are all settled with all they need (10 minutes later) and eating, then I take the opportunity to throw some laundry in the washer. On my way upstairs I grab a few odds and ends that belong up there and put them away. While I'm upstairs getting the laundry, in the boys' bathroom I notice their shoes on the floor so I grab those to bring back down with me to the laundry room. After putting in the laundry and refilling their cereal bowls or juice, I start putting away the dishes left out to dry from the night before and grab me a bowl of cereal to sit down for my breakfast and you get the idea... all day long, trying to squeeze every minute of the day out to get everything done. I'm really not a clean freak nor am I even a semi-clean freak. I have my secret closets and rooms where I can hide the mess. But there seems to always be a million things that need to get done and I haven't figured out yet how to get others to help out around here. (But someday I will!)
I have learned a few secrets to the multitasking. For instance, the bathtub is a wonderful place to keep my boys happy in one place and out of trouble atleast until the water gets so cold their lips start turning blue. One of my favorite multitasks is to get the boys in the tub and then clean their bathroom! Sometimes I even cut their hair first so that I can clean it all up at the same time while they're stuck in the bathtub where they can't scatter the hair all over the house. Another favorite is to get all my baking done at one time. The worst thing about baking/cooking is the messy dishes afterward. But if I can make dinner, bread and my breakfast granola at one time, then I just have one sink of dishes to clean- an awful lot of dishes but they're finished at the same time!
One disclaimer: I feel like there are times when I need to turn off the multitasking. Sometimes I need to concentrate, put all my attention on what I am doing. Time playing or reading with my boys should be such a time. Or really any time with another person, I should give them my full, undivided attention. I have a tendency to be a Martha instead of a Mary. I like the quote by Elder Maxwell: "What are calories compared to good conversations?"