All last month I kept repeating the same sentence to myself: If I can just get through January I’ll be able to get some breathing room again. Well, that hasn’t exactly happened. If anything, I’m actually busier than I was a few weeks ago and between shifting deadlines and scope creep, I’m feeling fairly frazzled.
At one point, I was able to push work aside for a few hours each day from about three till seven — but that hasn’t been possible in ages. Instead, I have been alternately bribing, threatening and pleading with Leah and Adam to give me some small modicum of peace and quiet after school so that I can nab an extra ninety minutes of work before dinner.
Nothing worked. No matter which activity they began together, there were inevitably tears. Often theirs. Sometimes mine.
Until I had enough and decided that if I was stuck doing work, so too were they. I pulled out long-neglected workbooks and printed off crosswords and math drills to keep them occupied while we all sat at the kitchen table.
And you know what? It works. At least for now.
Leah thinks that Doing Homework is a wonderfully grown-up activity that, in my benevolence, I am letting her take part in.
Adam, on the other hand, is grateful to have something specific to focus on that Leah can’t destroy.
And so, we sit together and work on our individual projects, helping each other as required and hopefully developing some good work habits for later on.
I’m not sure for how long they’ll go along with this plan, but for now I’m enjoying the togetherness and relative calm (while still allowing me to crank out design work at breakneck speed).