Summer Ho!

Everyone in the family is staying up later. The hubby is staying up till 1am each night, seriously eating into my writing time, and last night he actually let the kids stay up until 11pm. The kids are all out of school, and those of us fortunate to be home with them are scrambling to schedule in “me” time. But how do you do it if you don’t want to pay a babysitter while you write or draw?

Unfortunately, I’m not the kind of person who tolerates the average Joe watching over my shoulder when I draw or write. Believe me, I’ve tried to sketch during my kids' karate lessons, but someone always ends up watching over my shoulder. I’ve tried to read, but there are always one or two very loud parents that yap incessantly. Getting real work done at home while the kids are conscious… rare.

My plan was simple. The town I live in has this great summer play program. You drop the kids off at 8:30am and then pick them up again at 2:30pm. The program has three two-week sessions. I signed my kids up for one session, and I thought I’d sign them up for and additional week in a sports camp. The sports camps cost a little more, and the kids are busy for two to three hours.

Okay, so the hubby vetoed additional camps since we’re also going to Cub Scout Adventure Camp this summer (think lots of $ even though we sold popcorn to lessen the price). I have no hope of writing time then.

What plan to do? I’ll squeeze it in. I can revise with kid prattle as long as it’s not kid fighting, so if they’re occupied I try to steal some time for myself. I’ve started making the kids work on their writing skills. While they are working on their stories, I will be working on mine. We’ll work on the art skills together. 

I’ll let you know how it works.