You Have My Divided Attention

If three people are talking to me at the same time, that doesn’t break down to each of them getting 33% of my attention…

This essay was adapted from the newsletter The Pomegranate. .

I always knew I wanted three kids, and my reason was simple. When my friends talk about how they determined the size of their families, it sounds like something they sat down and discussed, reviewing pros and cons, determining the reach of their finances and support systems.

I always wanted three kids because I have two brothers, and I like them.

My brothers and I aren’t exactly close, but we have a great relationship. I see my older brother once or twice a year even though he only lives about 30 minutes away, and in between visits our main communication is him sending me different variations of the “My name is Jeff” clip from 22 Jump Street (his name is Jeff). My younger brother lives 10 minutes away so I see him slightly more often, maybe two or three times a year, and we actually text pretty regularly, usually about different sandwiches we have found and enjoyed around town. So yeah, two pretty flawless relationships.

We bickered a lot as kids and were mean and underappreciative to each other as…