Work

So, I got a job. I know, I know, I haven't told you anything! It all happened kind of fast. Long story short, I am helping another writer assemble a memoir for a celebrity. It's not writing my own book, but it certainly is a lot of writerly thinking and process. I'm enjoying the brain exercise and the material. I am learning a lot about a certain someone whom I cannot name!

This isn't the first time I have worked for this writer, and it's not the first time I have taken work since I have had children. But it is really the first time my children are old enough to appreciate that Mama has a job. I get to use nifty phrases like, "No, you can't play on my computer, because I have to work." These are not words they have heard from me before. It's kind of fun.

But sometimes, it's not fun. "What do you mean, you have to WORK?" Firstborn says. "Since when do YOU have a job?" Yeah, ouch. Nice. Sometimes it's not so fun when I have both a deadline for a man who pays me and deadlines for people who most certainly do not -- PTA obligations. Teacher Appreciation Week gifts to buy. Laundry to do. Bills to pay. Cleaning for the cleaning person (I know you do it too) who only comes every blue moon. Expectations.

I like this work because it's temporary -- the book is due in July -- and I can do it in chunks each day. But I don't like that when I feel like I COULD be putting clothes away, I feel like I REALLY should be doing work. I don't like that on Little B.'s days off from preschool, I feel relieved if I can work while he watches Nick Jr. instead of playing with him. That's not really ideal.

This is just a taste of what "real" working-outside-the-home or from-home moms experience. My hat is off to you. Because this whole juggling act is super hard, and my brain hurts from the thinking. I sure do sleep well at night, though!