It is mid-morning when you sit down at the computer to write. You’ve seen your husband off to work, gotten your breakfast and fed the kids theirs, loaded up the dishwasher, and washed the rest of the dishes that didn’t go in the dishwasher (who buys wooden spoons anyway?). Now, for a few minutes, it seems quiet enough that you can turn on the computer and write.
Pushing that power button always seems to do more things than just turn on the computer, however. Your two-year-old gets into a fight with your four-year-old over the stuffed puppies that one of them (if they can’t remember, how are you supposed to?) got for Christmas from Grandma (or maybe it was Uncle Joe).
Then the dog starts yowling at the squirrel in the yard. The phone rings. The kettle shrieks (because a mocha is always helpful to the muse). And you remember the clothes sitting in the laundry bin upstairs MUST go in the washing machine this morning, before they walk down here on their own.
By the time you hang up on the telemarketer, yell at the dog, give the kids a talk about stuffies and sharing, and start the laundry, you have to the boil the kettle again for the mocha and the computer has gone to sleep. You wake up the computer. Check your email. Drop by Facebook, just to see what anybody else is doing. The washing machine dings, so you throw the clothes in the dryer. You get the kids a snack. You find that your mocha is cold, so you throw it in the microwave.
Then you sit down, again, and open Word. Maybe you should’ve opened Excel first, because you can’t remember what you were supposed to work on. That editor from the writing magazine wanted an article on freelancing as a mother. And the instructor in your online course had handed out a new writing assignment, due tonight, of course. What was it? Oh yeah, write something in second-person point of view.
If you’re struggling to juggle writing assignments and kids as a mom blogger, check out these resources:
- Balancing Diapers and Deadlines (a hands-on, practical course by a homeschool mom of 8 and a freelance writer)
- Cassie Stocks on Mom Writers (an author talks about juggling writing and motherhood)
- 5 Summer Survival Tips for Work-at-Home Moms (practical tips for getting work done with the kids underfoot)
2 Comments
Ted – this is a slightly fictionalized account, but yes, a “fun zoo” does at times describe my house too. 🙂
Overcoming the hurdles (mine are of a different nature, but just as real) and getting some writing done can be a challenge. (Your household sounds like my son’s, by the way. A zoo, but fun.)