Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Balance

I've been thinking about balance lately. Author Cynthia Reese must have read my mind, since she just blogged about this herself!

I do my best to balance family life (school, meals, laundry) with my writing life. My husband and sons are crazy supportive, which is awesome. Thankfully my boys have learned to make grilled cheese sandwiches, Top Ramen, and quesadillas. In a pinch, they can make themselves a hot meal.

My kitchen island has several neat stacks of papers that need my attention. I have a few writing projects that demand my time. It'll all get done, eventually.

I spent today with 53 4th graders, visiting the San Fernando Mission. Words written today? Zero. As I bounced along in the school bus, I realized that I'm one of the lucky moms who CAN be a part of these field trips. I witnessed which boys like which girls. I saw which students give their teacher the most trouble. I was there, and that's what mattered.

I won't get these days with my boys back. Ever. I plan on milking them for all they're worth.



17 comments:

  1. I'm glad you make time for a field trip. Balancing all we need to do is daunting, and then to add writing makes it that much harder. I think balance means that something always slides and to be successful, we need to rotate what we ignore. Sometimes it's dinner. Other times it's laundry. Sometimes it's writing (gasp). Hopefully, for the most part, it's not our family.

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  2. Lucky you! Treasure every moment!

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  3. My son went off to college this year, and I have my daughter for just two more years. I look back on the time and I don't know where it's gone. I know I treasured the moments, but there aren't ever enough. Don't fight the balance. Embrace every moment, and as you bounce along on the school bus, take comfort in the fact that every expression on a child's face, every ridiculous taunt, every childish mistake, every brilliant, loving moment they give you is going to become fodder for some future chapter book or novel. Nothing is lost, and nothing is wasted. Just be patient and enjoy the ride!

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  4. Theresa, Carole Anne so true. Adventures, at least you knew you were in the moment at the time, and savored it all. Time is flying, so I'm trying to do the same. I'm sure I'll blink, and my kids will be where yours are. But yes, nothing is wasted.

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  6. Sorry for the removed post above. I hit send before I was finished posting. Anyhoo, I just love your blog, Julie! There's always something useful that I take away from visiting here. You are truly blessed to have the support and understanding from your husband and children. Although my husband is extremely supportive of my writing, my children are still so young and require 99.999% of my spare time that at times, I feel guilty for running to the computer every chance I get to work on my book. Just recently, I've learned to pace myself and get a good nights rest so I can wake early enough to write while it's quite. BTW, it sounds like you had a wonderful day w/ the kiddos on their field trip. I bet your little guy was so happy to have you tag along for the day! If you get a spare minute, I'd love for you to take a look at my post for today where I've tackled the issue of - Is "It" Really Worth It! I hope you have a great evening! Tory

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  7. An observant mom going along on a school field trip-- there's an entire world of discovery waiting to happen! That's when we can learn more in one day about "how's school" than all the other days put together.

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  8. My daughter is only two and a half, but already I see how fast she's growing away from me. I think you're absolutely right that treasuring time with them is the most important thing right now.

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  9. Yay for you! Real people over virtual people! (Even though the virtual people in your writing are usually more easy to manage!)

    Thanks for the shout-out!

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  10. Angie, yes, it happens VERY fast! I remember the 2 1/2 years...ours were great, not terrible at all. Hopefully yours are too.

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  11. Cynthia, yay for real people! Virtual ones are cool too, but not as cuddly.

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  12. Karen G, so true. When we ask "how was school" we usually get "fine." But visit the school? Yes, it's a whole different story. Thanks for visiting.

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  13. Hi Julie -- and anyone who might be interested!

    We put up a new page on our blog today to help keep people motivated and on the writing path. Please take a look and help us get it rolling:

    http://childrenspublishing.blogspot.com/p/butts-in-chairs.html

    Thanks so much,

    Martina

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  14. HEY Julie!

    I'm the 50th follower!!! YAY!

    Congrats again!

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  15. Sounds like a great plan Julie! Time goes by way to fast when you're a mom! Left you a little something, something on my blog!

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  16. We Moms are incredible jugglers, aren't we! I love what you said at the end of your post.
    "I won't get these days with my boys back. Ever. I plan on milking them for all they're worth."
    It is so true. These days will be gone before I can blink and latly I'm realizing that time passes too quickly and I need to make the most of it!

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  17. Alexis, yes, jugglers we are! With our hands and feet going at the same time. Happy Mother's Day!

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