This is a compensated review by BlogHer and Intel.
I only wish I were as cool as this guy.
There are many things they do not tell you when you first have a child, like the fact that your post-partum butt will look exactly like those baboon butts at the zoo – minus the flies, hopefully – for weeks afterward. Or that there is a 100% certainty you will pee your pants while pregnant or immediately afterward. But the side effect of children I most wish had come on their warning labels? That you lose IQ points with every one. While that may or may not be factually true, my hamster wheel, despite spinning faster and faster these days, produces less and less meaningful thought. Whether it’s the late nights taking their toll, the ever-present background music of the Wonder Pets or just the fact that there are way more of them than there are of me, I have become that girl.
I am the Gym Buddy who writes the day’s workout on the back of my hand and then forgets and dutifully washes my hands after I use the gym bathroom. The cook who gets halfway through a recipe before realizing I’m missing a crucial ingredient. The friend who is always 10 minutes late. The mom that forgets my preschooler’s pretend birthday in February (because he has a summer birthday, see, which would mean he wouldn’t get to celebrate with shrink-wrapped cupcakes with his classmates unless we invent a birthday for him which just ends up confusing and then enraging him because when he gets home there are no presents or cake.) Heck, I’m the mom who actually forgot the preschooler himself that one time.
The reason for all these self-inflicted crises? My love of, and inability to, multitask. I’m a girl who thinks if some is good, more must be better and that extends to my daily to-do list. Unfortunately I often multitask myself into incompetence. For instance, I forget that it is my day to bring the first graders a “healthy snack” (which the school defined as graham crackers or granola bars… an issue for another post) because I’m trying to grade SAT essays, start dinner, reply to blog comments, chat with my sister, load the dishwasher and pry my youngest off her permanent spot attached to my leg. All at the same time.
(True story: Just as I typed that last sentence I was like, “What’s that funny smell?” before remembering the shrimp that I’d put on the stove to cook 15 minutes ago. The shrimp that are now burnt. Don’t you wish you were having dinner here? Reason #29 why I don’t food blog.) There is a school of thought that you should do one thing until it’s finished and then move on to the next task. I flunked out of that school. My only consolation is I’m pretty sure I’m not the only multitasking wannabe superwoman out there.
My brain is full. I finally realized I needed help managing my responsibilities after wearing my shirt inside out all day because I literally got dressed in the dark – which I then tried to pass off as a fashion statement, much to the embarrassment of my 3rd grader. There are two solutions to this problem: a) I could let go of a few things and simplify my life or b) I could get more competent.
Thankfully Intel heard my cries (and my insane laughter at option a – as if!), all the way from the bottom of the laundry pile I’m buried under and sent me a wicked-efficient new brain! Actually they sent me a computer powered by the Intel® Core™ i5 processor with Turbo Boost Technology via BlogHer, but it has pretty much replaced my brain. Intel’s motto? “Get More Done In Less Time.” It’s like a wish-granting Genie, except it matches my outfit and doesn’t talk back! Even better it came with an Intel® Wireless Display (aka WiDi) adapter so I can use a HDTV as a monitor wirelessly. Sure this makes it so we can watch our home movies together (nothing makes my kids laugh harder than watching their younger selves running in random circles in various states of undress) plus it will seriously cut down on my children clotheslining themselves on all of the random cables strung across our living room.
Could you use a new brain too? To help you Get More Done In Less Time, BlogHer will be giving away one $250 (!!! I know !!!) Best Buy gift card to a lucky GFE commenter. Just leave me a comment with your answer to this question to enter: So what’s your management mojo – are you a crazy frazzled multitasker like me? A coldly efficient multitasker? Or are you a one-thing-at-a-time person? Anyone else forget something really important (you know, like a child) because you were trying to do too many things at once?
Even better, 11 bloggers are hosting this same giveaway and you can enter the contest (same rules) on every single site! And, as if this weren’t the awesomest giveaway ever already, BlogHer is giving away four super-brain laptops like mine! Check out the round-up page to see the other sites and to enter the contest for the laptops. (Go do it! I’d looove for a GFE reader to get one of them! Or all of them, hee!)
Want a second entry? It’s easy! Check out the rules for sweepstakes entries:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) Follow this link and provide your email address and your response to the sweepstakes prompt
Sweepstakes ends at 5 PM PST on December 22, 2010
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.
Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.
You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.