5 Jan 2015
It allows for communication between the two hemispheres and transfers motor, sensory and cognitive information. A raft of research shows that it’s thicker in women, and this is what makes us believe we are better at multi-tasking.
But we already know this from our common experience, don’t we?
I am constantly amazed by how much my female friends juggle every day. Take Exhibit A: She’s studying for her second degree, whilst being the full time mother of two small boys, one of whom has additional needs. This is whilst doing most of the shopping, washing, cooking and housework, and finding time to work out every week. I’ve known her to bake, write an essay and keep the kids happy all at the same time; I’m exhausted just watching.
Exhibit B combines caring for her three young children with a full time job, for which she has negotiated flexible hours so she can still do the school run every day. She is constantly dashing from one appointment to the next to ensure that she gets in the required amount of hours at work, whilst making sure her kids don’t miss out on their favourite hobbies. How she shoehorns being a taxi service for karate, netball, football, dance classes and swimming into her day I will never know. Despite chaotic appearances, I’m pretty sure she could organise a G8 summit without so much as batting an eyelash.
I am in awe of women like this. If I manage to have a shower and keep my children alive I consider that more than enough of an achievement for the day. How on earth do they do it? I’m astounded as I watch them switch from one role to another: mother; sister; wife; friend; parent; employee; each time knowing exactly what has to be done, by when and with whom. I can’t remember to put my gloves on unless they’re tied to my coat with idiot string.
And so it is that I face January with a mixture of excitement and terror. I am now the single parent of two children with additional needs. I have sole financial responsibility for the roof above our heads and all that lies beneath. I’m about to start a new job, in a new sector, so I’ll need my wits about me. I write this column every week, as well as my first book, and other columns, articles and content as and when commissioned. Then, of course, there’s the stuff we all have to do – the cooking, cleaning, shopping, ironing, dog walking and washing that just about prevent us from living in a Victorian slum.
I’m very much hoping that my biology is going to help me out here, and that I will just naturally discover I can multi-task to the degree that is required but frankly I’m not sure that a thicker corpus callosum is going to suffice. What I need are your secrets….. How DO you do it? A secret army of staff? A fabulously helpful mother-in-law? A detailed weekly spreadsheet? Class A drugs and a daily bottle of gin?
