On Work-Life Balance as a Writer-SAHM

A fellow writer recently asked me to address the issue of finding work-life balance between writing and attending to all the duties of a Stay-at-home-Mom.  I can do this in exactly 2 words:

What balance?

I confess, SAHMhood always comes first, and there have been countless times that writing has taken a backseat to one or more of my children.

But I'm okay with that.  SAHMdom is my profession, and I am a professional.  Writing is my passion, and as with any career, our passions almost always take a back seat to our jobs.  I'm passionate about my children, too, don't get me wrong, but I write for me, not for them.  I write to keep my brain functioning, to keep me interesting, to do something to develop myself above and beyond doing laundry, dishes, cooking, cleaning, and chauffeuring.  And I generally do it during nap time/quiet time/bed time, when my attention and affection is not immediately required. 

I guess my answer, then, to my dear fellow writer wanting to know how I balance my family and my scribbling is this:  I don't.  My focus is my family:  my husband and my sweet children.  But after they're in bed, OH, what goes on inside my head!  THAT'S when it comes out onto paper.  THAT is when the magic happens.  The rest of the time I'm content to be Mom.  That's what I signed up for, after all, what my husband signed up for when we married, and why he breaks his back (read:  loses his eyesight) each and every weekday staring at a host of spreadsheets on a laptop 40 miles away.  So I could be Mom.

But oh, those hours when the kids are in bed before he gets home!  THOSE are mine.  And some weeks, months, or years from now, I'll get to share them with YOU.  So...thanks for reading.  Now and then.