I woke up this morning and heard the rain rushing through the rain gutters by our window, and thought, "I don't want to go running in the rain," but then I thought that I wouldn't mind walking in the rain if I had an umbrella, so I got up and got dressed. I couldn't find the umbrella, though. Alyssa took it fishing yesterday, just in case it rained, and apparently she didn't bring it back. So I went back upstairs, and went back to bed. Then I started thinking of my book, and I decided to work on that a bit.
One thing that's been stalling progress on my book is that some of it is in a notebook, some of it is on the computer, and some of it is on loose pieces of paper. Plus, some of it is written, some of it is planned, and some of it needed to be scrapped and rewritten. The big hurdle to cross with all of this was that I didn't know where I was at and what needed to be fixed, because it was all just one big jumble. So I got out a binder and put some dividers in it. I took the already written and printed prologue and first two chapters, and put them in the binder, with the dividers between them. Then I took the pages I had printed with the plans, and put them in the binder as well, divided by possible chapters. And last, I put in a bunch of extra paper in the back. So now I have everything in one place, and it's easy for me to look back and look forward all at the same time. So hopefully there will be some progress soon.
Anyway. My point: I felt very creative this morning. Alyssa woke up and started putting together a book of spells and healing potions and such, and I was glad that she was being creative, and it was raining. So I called a delay on summer school due to rain and creativity. "Good idea," I thought. I was wrong. Bad idea.
Alyssa got on the computer, wanting to research healing potions. Her research led her to a website where you could buy healing stones. Thank you, Google. So instead of being creative and cute, she spent the morning begging me to let her buy healing stones, and even after I convinced her that it was not going to happen, she went back to the computer to dream of all the healing stones she would someday buy. (Please note that this girl already has 30-50 really cool rocks in her collection that she could have easily pretended were healing stones. She didn't like that idea, though. Remind you of anyone, Mom?)
The boys took advantage of the morning by dumping out every single toy box in the family room, then they went outside, in the rain, and turned on the hose. Thirty minutes and three wet kids later (Alyssa joined them), I finally gave up on starting the next chapter in my book, and I realized that not following a routine does not work for us. I'm also pretty upset that it feels like every time I try to do something for myself, not only am I not able to do that something, but everything else falls apart as well. It was pretty depressing there for a little bit.
So I guess I've learned that we need to start our day by following our routine. If we would have had summer school and done our chores, then it wouldn't have bothered me so much that the boys made a mess and Alyssa was whiny. I would have been proud of what we had accomplished, and those things would have seemed smaller and less significant. Plus, we would already have the momentum of getting things done, so it wouldn't have been that big of a deal to say, "Woah, boys, that's quite a mess you've made! Let's clean it up."
I've also learned that I just need to be patient with my book. I'm glad that I now have my binder for it, because it means I can work at it little bits by little bit without losing my place. I just need to remember that I can still finish it, even if it takes a while. Going slow does not mean that I have to stop. I just need to be happy with slow.
Now I need to get back to the kids. Alyssa just came upstairs with a wet and muddy Becca, and she says the boys are playing with the hose again. I think it's time to bring the boys in and get them cleaning up their messes.
5 comments:
Frustrating, for sure!
I feel like summertime is always a constant battle to keep things in order and kept up.
Keep chipping away at your book and good luck getting those boys to clean after they used all their energy playing out in the rain!
Ha! I know how you feel about anytime you try to do something for yourself, everything falls apart around you. I now have a constant guilt if I am doing something for myself- because I always have a list of chores in the back of my mind! But the fact is we need to have our creative time, to do something for ourselves. I can't wait to read more of your book. I hope you keep posting little passages on your blog. It's the kind of creativity I love!!
I also know what you mean... Its a really difficult way to live, between feelings of longing for creativity and guilt at "letting things go." If you figure it all out, be sure to share. :)
Yes. I am finding that summer is one of the least favorite times of the year for me - and it's not because the kids are home, since they were home all year long for school. It's because the structure is out the window and when structure is gone, so is discipline and in comes chaos. I decided that once we move and are settled, out comes the chore chart and the Summer To Do lists for the morning. Hopefully then we can get some structure going.
I wish we had something like Partner's N Pals here, because I feel like Quianna, being a teenager, wastes her day away with sleeping in and being on her iPod. When I was doing Partner's N Pals, my summer was full of fun stuff!
I need to read this book! And if you want some summer, come to Vegas! We have summer to spare. Miss you ;)
Post a Comment