Mr. Busy meets Little Miss Scatterbrain

Here is my husband, Mr. Busy. He is a hard worker, and always very busy. In the evenings, sometimes he will stop being busy long enough to sit on the couch and watch Seinfeld reruns with me.

I don't mean to imply that he is "too busy to spend time with his family." Maybe "Busy" is not the right word. He should be called "Mr. Industrious" or "Mr. Intensity." He throws himself into whatever he does. The effort and energy he exerts in one day alone with the kids is approximately equal to how much I exert in a week. They build things, wrestle, discuss the history of civilization, chase each other around the house, do science experiments, paint, clean up the paint, jump on the couch, play soccer in the house, and learn useful German phrases, all while he tries to clean the kitchen and prepare a nutritious dinner.

Then there is me:


Although I prefer "Little Miss Right-Brained."

I am neither industrious nor intense. I am busy, because I have three little kids, but it is not my natural state. Multitasking is beyond my reach. I can either play with the kids, OR clean the kitchen, OR prepare a nutritious dinner. I cannot possibly do all three. Sometimes I attempt to do all three at once, but all I do is drive myself crazy and accomplish none of the above.

I'm a "big picture" person, which is probably why I don't see the sink of dirty dishes right in front of me. What is today's date? What did I do yesterday? I have no idea. I will have to check my calendar and get back to you on that. Whenever possible I put bills on auto-pay, because some days last forever and some months are a week long and I have no idea when any of the bills are due, or why we need cable anyway. (Oh, right, Mr. Busy occasionally takes a break to watch sports.)

Fortunately, my husband and I are incredibly compatible, despite the differences in our mental wiring. In over 11 years of marriage, we've learned enough about ourselves and each other to appreciate those differences (well, most of the time, anyway).

We tend to balance each other out. I remind Mr. Busy to stop and smell the roses, and he reminds Little Miss Scatterbrain that it's time to water them.