I was looking forward to my kids going back to school so I could sit down and concentrate on some of my career goals. Contrary to popular belief, being a stay-at-home mom is not a career \u2013 it was a choice \u2013 but the hours are bad, the pay is low, and it has no career growth potential, so I really need a backup plan. It\u2019s actually the kind of job you work yourself out of, although it never really ends.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
With the holidays being over I was sure life would immediately settle back into its routine and I\u2019d find time to work on some writing. I was wrong. When the kids got back to school I was immediately on the run with a planning meeting for my church\u2019s newsletter. I had a few errands to run and by the time I got home it was time to plan dinner. It was okay, I expected the kids\u2019 first day back at school to run that way.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Then suddenly my family was home and it seemed there were a lot more people living in my house than there used to be. Everyone was talking to me at the same time. Now mind you, I often spend hours alone when people are in the house, but as soon as one needs to talk to me, they all need to talk to me. I started writing stuff down, not creative writing, but making lists of requests so I didn\u2019t forget what I needed to take care of. I finally put my pajamas on to indicate my day was over.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The next day back at school, I had a routine doctor\u2019s appointment. I got there early and they took me in early. In my smugness at being early, I figured I had extra time. I decided to run the couple errands I hadn\u2019t gotten to the day before and go through the car wash because my car was filthy. Then in my ignorance, I figured I had leisurely time to go home, blog, and clean out the inside of the car on that sunny day and get some writing done before my family came home.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
When I sit down to blog, I always check my email first. We decided to refinance this year to get a better interest rate and there was an email from the loan processor requesting several documents. I sat for the next couple hours tracking down the documents; some were hard copy I scanned into my computer, others were already online. I submitted everything through email and I had a moment to marvel at how technology makes our lives so much easier. Then I rushed out, just as the rain started, to clean the inside of my car.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
By then my husband was home, the kids were home and all three of them, once again at the same time, began to demand my attention. I thought my head would implode as I made them form a line and tackled their requests one at a time. This day I went to bed at nine just to make it all stop. I knew Friday would be MY day to finally sit down and get to my writing.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
If you want to make God laugh, make plans. Friday morning I hit a dog on my way home from dropping my daughter at the bus stop. It was dark, the dog just appeared in my headlights so close to my car I didn\u2019t even have time to brake. There were people behind me and I couldn\u2019t stop. I don\u2019t know what happened to the dog; it wasn\u2019t there when I went back, but it broke my headlight and bent my bumper.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I called my husband in tears because I was upset about the dog and my headlight. He came home to console me and assess the damage. Two hundred dollars and much labor from my husband later, I had a new headlight. And there went my day.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
This week I\u2019m going to sneak up on my days. I\u2019ll keep my list of demands nearby, but will make no particular plan to undertake them. And I will most certainly not plan to do any writing. Maybe I\u2019ll actually get something done.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n