I have three school age children and one nearly four year old. As a full time writer and a stay at home mom, I can tell you that on school holidays, like Lincolns Birthday, today, make writing on a dead line near impossible.
When its just me and my four year old, writing is easy and smooth, he sits next to me playing on my phone until its time to go get his sisters from school and then my husband comes home shortly there after and we have dinner.
I’m able to get a solid six to eight hours of writing with a couple of union mandated breaks during the morning.
Today its all look at me, Mom mom mom, there’s a worm, I’m hungry, he touched me. I have a week to my next dead line and I’m only on chapter 5 revisions out of 10 chapters total.
To say i feel like tearing my hair out today is an understatement.
So, how do we handle this? Four active children and trying to write in a tiny two bedroom house?
Simply put you don’t, how have to take a deep breath, realize that they are going back to school tomorrow, wait for your husband (or significant other) to come home and help out so you can pick it back up again.
Children are only little for a short time, it’s better if I just work on being present, even if my deadline is looming. I can work at night or after dinner, but I don’t get to have as many days with my kids as I would like.
How do other writers handle having kids? Or even their attitudes when they don’t want to do what you want them to do.
Currently we are cleaning, and my middle daughter who has a phobia of worms has discovered a log for out cats to scratch on had some earth worms on it. In the middle I’m trying to keep my youngest daughter on task, no easy feat when she had ADHD, who is sweeping our living room kitchen area.
Lots of time conjoling and threatening in turns, not ability to write any revisions of my book.
Let me know how you handle kids v.s. responsibilities or job pressures.
