I’m finding less and less time to write. Maybe you find yourself in the same situation with your passion. Between more work, kids activities, unexpected curve balls, and the occasional need for sleep, you don’t have time for running or writing or swimming or cooking or reading.
When I have inspiration, I need to sit down and write immediately or else it’s gone. That’s just my process. And how often in your life can you stop what you’re doing and take a 15 minute break?
The weekends are usually the best opportunity, but this weekend was challenging. I was excited about it because Bray had planned to take little bit to the farm to ride her beloved horse which meant I got the boys after their morning baseball game. It’s been too long since I’ve had a mom-sons weekend. We planned fun activities and play dates.
Saturday morning we all five woke very early for our 8 am game. Bray accidentally stepped into the role of head coach (that’s what happens when you volunteer to “help”), and I had volunteered to bring snacks. So off he went with one kid before 7:30 to set up, and off I went with two to pick up coffee for the adults and donuts for the kiddos.
After the game, he did a terrific job!, he headed east and I took two more boys home with my two for an action packed boys play date. These sure are different from girls play dates or mixed gender play dates. It was basketball and soccer and Legos and bugs and pushing into everyone else’s turf and I was the complete outsider. Nonetheless, it was a success, and the boys even went to one of their friend’s house afterward to hike through muddy nature trails.
Things started to unravel after that. We continue to struggle with our Angry Kid and Saturday was an epic melt down. We had to run to Academy and the grocery store, we needed sporting gear and had no food in the house, but he absolutely would NOT get out of the car. In a less than proud parenting moment, we both had a fit in the car, and I had to turn around and go home. He lost his privileges for the day and unfortunately the eldest lost out on some fun too because I was solo with the two of them. I tried to salvage the evening as we ate fishsticks and sweet potato fries for dinner (there was NO fresh food, I was stuck with my emergency frozen back up) and read Maurice Sendak.
No writing.
Sunday was better behaviorally, but worse scheduling because of the Saturday inability to run errands. The boys had wanted to go bowling, but after church and Sunday School, we had to go to Academy (which took forever because I was in there with two boys and it’s becoming their dream store), then we met my mom for lunch (what with the no food in the house), and then she graciously took the boys home so I could spend and hour and a couple hundred dollars restocking everything in our house, from milk to eggs and syrup to pickles.
We had a few minutes when I got home to back a chocolate chip skillet cookie (you’ll remember our weekend baking outings in preparation to be kids baking champions) and then I needed to back a the church for a meeting. But my eldest was sorely disappointed that he missed out on bowling because of his brother’s misbehaving. I promised to take him first thing on Saturday morning.
When I returned, we had all these amazing fresh foods from the store and I cooked a delicious dinner. My other outlet besides writing is cooking. We had roasted salmon with yogurt and herbs and spring onion lemon soup with fontina toast. Yum! The baby even helped prep everything.
But of course then it was nighttime and baths and stories, and just as everyone was settled and down, daddy came home with little bit and everyone rallied even though it was 9 pm on a school night.
No writing.
And even now, at 5:30 am on Monday morning, all the big ideas and innovative thoughts I meant to pen over the weekend have flitted from my head, and I didn’t manage to capture a one of them even though I carry around a notebook in my purse for that sole purpose.
But I know this season is so short. And even at its hardest times, I know I will miss it when it’s gone. This age, this kindergarten phase, it’s an intense one. The activities have increased, but the need for your physical and emotional presence is still as great as always. And sure we’re tired and we’re frazzled and we’re worried we’re doing it all wrong, but these little people know we love them and they recognize we are available.
So there’s less writing in this season. And it’s less inspired because, well, today you got a recap of my weekend (lucky you…). But I’ll still find corners of time and in the in-between, I’ll watch my friends send their kids off to college and be grateful for a little more time with mine at home.
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