We women are often recognised for our ability to multi-task. After all, we’ve been known to watch television while doing our nails, checking WhatsApp messages, reading a magazine and maybe even exchanging gossip with whoever is beside us. I believe this ability is inborn, a gift bestowed on the female gender.
Mothers are the undisputed champion multi-taskers, especially full-time mums who have to juggle household chores while tending to the needs, whims and fancies of their children. Indeed, my in-car multi-tasking ability was taken up a notch with the arrival of my daughter.
While it is potentially dangerous to be multi-tasking when driving, it is inevitable when faced with a toddler’s incessant requests and questions. My dear backseat driver, for instance, likes “her” dashboard’s LCD display to be in split-screen mode, showing both the navigation function and the radio stations. The map also has to be in plan view instead of street view. She sometimes likes her window shade up and sometimes down, and the same goes for the sunroof shade, which is open or closed according to her preference. She also has a say as to which radio station we tune into, and it usually begins with, “Mama, do you like this song?”
I am perpetually fielding a plethora of questions as to why there is a red line (or yellow line or blue line) on the “picture map”, what button that is, why the number keeps changing (referring to the digital speedometer), what picture is painted on the bus nearby, why I am going this way, etc. I even have to justify myself to her every time I sound the horn. My toddler also works better than any high-tech driving aid, with her unrelenting reminders to fasten my seatbelt, keep both hands on the steering wheel, and not go too fast.
I’m still trying to convince her that Mama cannot turn around and look at her art-and-craft project from school or her new finger trick, because I need to look ahead while driving. Woe betide me when she has an itch that she cannot reach and neither can I.
