There’s this big joke that when I women gets pregnant and has kids her mind disintegrates. I heard it a lot when I was pregnant, coworkers chortling at the frequently confused expression on my face as I stumbled my way through normal tasks. And then after I had Kate I found myself using it as an excuse all the time. “Oh sorry, I have lost my mind. The baby and all.” With your first you don’t know any better. Everyone says it, so it must be true.

I have come to realize that the truth is that we don’t become dumber as parents. Kids don’t sap our brains. In fact, I feel ten times smarter some days. I’m certainly better at multitasking. (Try tapping out a text message on your phone while your 1 year old sits on your lap, failing around as she tries desperately to grab said phone, and failing that tries her best to work her toddler magic on my poor abused computer that is hopefully just out of reach. Not only good at multi-tasking, I have also apparently grown extra arms.) (I won’t mention how one time she did fall off my lap doing that.)

The problem is that I am ten times smarter and more organized about baby stuff. I can list off ten different car seats, their weight limits, price points, and pros and cons. I know what medicines I can use, in what dosages, when the last time I gave it and what time the next dose is. I know when her next appointment is and what vaccines she is and is not slated to get. I have a mental list of what foods she likes, what foods she loves and what foods she’s currently, for some unknown reason, decided she no longer will eat. I know exactly how to get her to sleep with a very delicate routine and perfect timing that I can’t quite adequately explain to Denis. I can memorized several of her books so that I can “read” to her with my eyes closed (a trick that is totally necessary first thing in the morning).

But it still doesn’t change the fact that I frequently stop in the middle of something and totally forget what I was doing.

Which is how I totally forgot the hose was on, overfilled my quick-set inflatable-ring pool, which caused it to roll a bit downslope (it’s a TINY SLOPE and it was FINE….. until I overfilled it and water spilled everywhere.). And the only way to fix it was to totally drain it, which took a full day. And then when we re-filled it one side somehow got folded under and now has 2000 gallons of water sitting on it so we can’t fix it… except by draining it. Again.

So, yeah, it’s 95+ degrees out this week and I have no pool. But those kids toys? Totally organized awesomely.