Do calendars lie?

Because according to mine, my children will be out of school in just under 5 weeks. How is it possible that an entire school year is nearly over?

There's not enough hours in my day to do all I want (including procrastinate, I admit) already and now the kids will be around more as well. I cannot even begin to imagine what I am going to do to keep us all from going insane before the end of August.

There will be a few weeks of day camp, and some trips to the beach, play grounds, and libraries. But I have to be honest and say that I have a small feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach about the loss of what little independent time I have. I love my time in my writing salon, with the door closed, my coffee hot and no voices other than the ones in my head. I suppose it will seem all the more precious to me come this summer when I will have to take what I can when I can.

What do you do when the children are around more? How do you find the balance you need to keep you sanity (assuming any of us have that to start)?

As I write this a fight over a water gun has broken out. Time to get the referee whistle.

Managing "real" life with a "writing" life

Balance - it's a goal, if not always a reality.

As my sons (now 8 and 5) are getting older, I am getting better about finding a balance between writing time and all other time. It's great that I can tell them "Give mommy until x:00 and I'll be all yours," and they can help themselves more. It also helps that since ROLL PLAY came out last August they know that what I do is "real".

I do my best to set times to write each day, mostly when my youngest is in preschool (a whole 2 hours to myself!). And I can do some at other times. Still, it is a push and pull with other obligations.

While writing ROLL PLAY, my youngest son was still home all the time and had a 2-3 popsicle habit. I actually once found myself writing "he put his popsicle near her...". Ah, the fun when real life intrudes.

As wives, mothers, friends, daughters and writers we have a lot of roles to play and keeping them all in line is a balancing act worthy of the finest acrobats. Still we manage. Dinner is on the table, homework gets done, groceries are bought, and deadlines are met. Sometimes it seems like a cross between magic and a miracle. Aren't we amazing??

I am looking forward to the day when my books are doing so well and my husand's therapy clinic is thriving so that I can hire one of those services that put the meals together for you and you just cook it up at dinner time.