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I May Not Survive...
Yes, I’m whining, but I doubt I’m alone at the moment. Three words. Kids. At. Home. Nuff said.
I love my children dearly, but I admit to becoming a bit spoiled since my youngest started school. After changing diapers every single day for 8 years 6 months and 23 days (who’s counting?) my first big YAY! was when my youngest potty trained. That was the first biggie.
The second? After spending countless years of never having a single moment alone, of quiet, suddenly my baby was going to kindergarten and I had 8 hours of complete solitude. You can hear a pin drop in my house most days. I was so shell shocked for the first few months that I didn’t know whether to pee or go blind.
I quickly adapted. Very quickly lol. And now, I’m so spoiled, er uh used to the uninterrupted time to write, read or do whatever the heck I want to do, that when the kids are home 24/7 I begin to spaz.
So now I’m facing another week and a half of chaos. Ok, so most of the time it’s fun chaos, but by 3 in the afternoon, I’m dying for 5 minutes of quiet. (Like now when I’ve sent the kids out to play basketball so I could have 5 minutes of blessed, sweet silence in which to write this blog)
So how are the rest of you coping with KAH (kids at home) Or am I alone in the bitchy mom awards?
You’re not alone. I have one teenager that drives me nuts. We live in the country with no one around, so I’m his entertainment during the holiday vacation from school. I can’t wait for Jan 4th to get him out of the house.
I’m nodding and saying amen.
I love my little goobers. I want them gone.
AND, it doesn’t actually mean anything about survival (except I’m on a perpetual diet) my kids got a ten pound bar of chocolate yesterday, the lil dickenses.
How to cope? No idea, other than computer and tv and I don’t think that’s from the Perfect Mother handbook.
But Perfect is for the Stepford families and we all know how they turned out . . . :D
Since my wee one is only two, I’ve actually learned to write around her whining and screaming. Sesame Street is my saving grace. Without it I’d never get a word written.
Like Kate wrote. I love my goober. I can’t wait for her ti start school. ;)
You know what’s funny, Rene? I wrote MORE when I had wee ones at home. That is so messed up lol. I wrote my first full length 100k manuscript by hand in a notebook, infant in one arm, toddler in lap and my right hand poised over a notebook.
I’ve just gotten spoiled lol. Now when they’re home I act like I’ve never had distractions before doh
I can’t imagine trying to write when my son was young, although with only one, I probably would have managed since I certainly found time to read. My drain was my day job, which this summer morphed from telecommuting and a 40 hr work week into drive into the office and do the same thing but work 10-12 hr days just to make my boss look good kind of job. I got to the point where I couldn’t write at all. The boss and the job sucked the life from me. SO I QUIT. Now I have regained my sanity and time to write 2k words a day…and still watch my soaps without guilt.
I have a friend who is desperate for time to write. She has a five year old talkative girl, and an eight month old girl who refuses to leave her mom’s lap. I’ve suggested SUPER NANNY, but she might not work for a baby. I will be happy to pass on any suggestions to my friend from all you experienced moms.
Marie-Nicole
Oh honey, I’m one step worse. I have the kid AND the hubby home. It has its good moments, but quite a few bad ones too. Damn PMS!
AnneD
LOL! Yesterday I had to take my two oldest kiddos to the dentist’s office. The younger one was done first and then we had to wait once the older one finished up. The place was crawling with kids and so there were eight frustrated mothers trying to regulate bathrooms.
After harassing my five year old to shut the door and wash his hands and flush when he finished I walked around the corner and the mom across from me said, “I can’t wait for school to start.”
Can I get an amen?
Only my oldest is in school full time and I still have a 2 year old home with me all day but man, it’s a lot nicer when I have a bit of a break!
Personally, I don’t know how y’all do it. I’ve got a day job that gives me a bit of time to do PR stuff when I get a minute, and then I write when I get home, usually with a BIG glass of wine and my iPod.
Oh wait, does my 40-year-old hubby count as a child? He says he does g!
I don’t have kids (can’t have them) and mostly made my peace with this fact a while ago. Sometimes I wonder what it’d be like to have a child tearing around, but these days I don’t think I could give up my writing time, which I guard jealously in any case. So really, I admire all of you who manage to juggle so many different commitments. It must be incredibly rewarding to do both – to have a family and write. Ladies, I salute you!
Well, I hate to say it, but mine are almost always home. That’s 24/7. But that’s because I home school them.
Yes, my choice (and my dh’s) so I shouldh’t whine, right? Oh, I still do now and then. LOL! There are days I would dearly love some peace and absolute quiet.
Then again, I probably wouldn’t know what to do with myself.
(((Hugs))), it’ll be over before you know it. Just try to make the best of it and enjoy the time you have together.
running before someone pelts me with leftover turkey
Now that mine are old enough not to need me 24/7, I have time to write. I didn’t even bother to try when they were small. On the other hand, I miss those days. I loved the chaos – my dh doesn’t and is happy they are older now, but they still need us to hold their hands occasionally. I still give my 21 y/o bedtime hugs and kisses (I miss those when she’s away at school).
Like Meg said, it will be over before you know it – so cherish these times now. Right after you finish that scene. LOL
I dearly loved my children when they were little…but I’m so glad they’re not little any more ;-) I so remember those times, Maya, and I give you a lot of credit for hanging in there. I’m afraid my writing was on again/off again during those years. I still have a full-time ddj to interfere, but it is easier than ddj AND little ones. Keep it up, hon, you’re doing fine.
I think it’s a case of not missing something you never had hehe. Before my youngest started school, I never craved quiet, alone time etc etc. And when she started school, I felt lost for the first little while.
But then I got used to all the quiet and alone time, something I haven’t had in YEARS and now I NEED it lol.
Thanks for all the responses. I love seeing experiences across the spectrum :)))
I’m with Meg. I homeschool my kids, so they’re with me all the time. It is very rewarding, but it does take up a lot of time during the day… Time I gaze at my computer longingly. :(
However, I love the freedom homeschooling gives me to teach the kids, or run out to the store for some milk or have an impromptu vacation. I have four kids, aged 7,6,5, & 3 (almost 4) so people look at me like I’m insane when I tell them I homeschool.
But it’s really not that bad. It’s kinda like old-timey Laura Ingalls stuff. When it’s math, they all pull out their math books, even tho I’m teaching different levels of math to each of them. Same with science, reading, history, etc…
But usually, the school days can be easy. If we start around 8-9am, I’m usually done by 12noon, and even if we go over, It’s not by much. And that leaves me a few hours to write. I don’t start my housework until about 4pm, but I do the laundry throughout the day. By “housework”, I mean vacuuming, toilets, etc… :) And I have my kids to help me out in that regard. My 7 y/o is pretty handy with the vacuum, and my 6 y/o loves to dust. And they do a pretty good job.
They don’t hang out with kids who think it’s “boring” or say things like “Oh man, I gotta do what?” They love helping out. I have three girls and a boy, so all three girls want to be like Mommy. So they watch me like hawks. When I ask them to help me with the housework, they smile and beam and are filled with pride for the work they’re doing.
And get this. My kids, as young as they are, do their own laundry. I am NOT joking, folks. I have these kids collect the clothes, put them in the washer, measure the soap, turn on the water (even to the right water level for the clothing level) then pull out to the dryer, turn on the dryer AND even put them away.
Thank GAWD. I think I’d go insane if I had to do everyone’s laundry all day long. heheheh
But yeah, so that’s what my day is like. I do get some time in the evening to write, but that’s not always a given, since DH comes home from work and likes to spend time with me or watch TV or something. Usually from about 10pm to Midnight I also have another window of writing time.
But in all honesty, folks, I promote more than I write nowadays. So when I do have a window at my computer, I’m usually yakking on loops, posting blogs, doing newsletters, etc… So when I DO write, it’s very precious to me. I close my office door and tell the kids not to bother me unless the house is burning down. LOL Of course they do anyway, but it’s funny just to say that. :D
(Sorry this post is so long… )
~~Becka
Oh, and just to say a bit more on the amount of time it takes me to homeschool… Some of y’all might be shocked that it doesn’t take me all day long. (well, they’re not in High School yet, so talk to me in a few years… lol)
But just to give you an idea on how well my kids are doing, my 7 y/o can read at a 6th grade level. The books she reads are Nancy Drew, Chronicles of Narnia, and she even attempted Lord of the Rings, however, I think that was too “meaty” for her to take on. And yes, I taught her to read, thank you very much. :D
She’s also doing multiplication in her math AND beginning algebra stuff with the value of “n”.
She knows who George Washington is, she knows her vowels, she’s learning cursive, we’ve done science experiments…
My 6 y/o isn’t quite as far along as her sister in reading, but she can still get through most children’s books (although not Nancy Drew just yet). She’s a wizard at math, doing addition and subtraction problems in her head without counting her fingers (like 45+83).
My 5 y/o is also great at math, doing “simple” addition and subtraction like 67-5 or 54+5 (with the help of a number line, and she can read simple words but needs help with larger ones.
And there’s no homework. At least… Not yet. Again, get back to me in the higher grades. :P
I only say all this not to brag, but to show that when you have one on one teaching, not only do the kids absorb the material better, the subjects don’t have to be long and drawn out. My kids also attend a French class once a week and do Karate for their P.E., amazingly, at the same place—the dojo. LOL! (The owner’s wife also freelances as a French, Spanish, & Japanese teacher.)
~~Becka