Mom Brain

Tonight at bedtime Emilia was looking for her bear that she always sleeps with. She came into the kitchen and asked me if I knew where it was. "Yeah," I answered "It's in the bathroom behind the door."

Now why did I know that?

It seems that since having children my brain hangs on to random, useless pieces of information. When doing the laundry, I know how many times each piece of clothing was worn before it was thrown in there. I can tell you what my kids ate for breakfast everyday for the last three weeks, but if you ask me to balance my checking account, or remember a phone number...forget about it.

I suppose this alteration of brain function may be a defense mechanism, or a survival technique. "Mom Brain" works in our favor when forgetting about childbirth, labor pains, and those wonderful first few months of sleeplessness and confusion that inevitably accompany that little bundle of joy. In fact, it works SO well that we are willing to go through it all again! But beyond that, "Mom brain" seems more of a disservice to humanity. I want to know from my more "mature" mother friends if this phenomenon ever corrects itself or if I should just accept this as a "rite of passage"...like dark hair on the upper lip.