Somehow I thought I’d already posted this. I blame the chaotic air of spring break on my scatterbrainedness.
Life can sometimes be unfair for our two children – not only because the lottery draw of life gave them to me and my equally insane husband. No, this week, when they finally got a chance to take a break from school, recharge their batteries, enjoy the lives of sloths and do what they pleased, Mother Nature threw them a curveball; four days of torrential downpours and gloomy, depressing skies. One can only watch so much crappy TV and soak up so much Twitter and Facebook feeds – with breaks for reading one’s favorite books, of course! – before one’s brain goes numb. Two teens cooped up with only their mother for company? UGH! And then the unpredictable spurts of energy and hormonal surges can make captivity even more unbearable. Inevitably every few minutes one of them would come pester me – during prime writing time – for something to do. Hard to concentrate under those conditions. Eventually I threw them outside in the rain and let them jump on the trampoline to exorcise their inner teen demons – who cares if they get soaked and the trampoline cuts trenches in the lawn if I can have a few moments of quiet? They came back in shivering and sated, if not just a little bit calmer. There were other moments of pure insanity brought on by the cabin fever that I cannot even mention as my daughter would die of embarrassment if I revealed them.
When I escaped in the middle of the week for my critique group, I pointed at my kids and said to my husband, “You’ve got to do something with them before they blow a gasket. Good luck.” Then I bolted. Hey, sometimes, it’s survival of the fittest, even in the family group. I knew my husband was strong enough, besides, he’d escaped most of the week at work. He’d been around other fairly normal adults and had somewhat intelligent conversations. I NEEDED TO GET OUT, DO YOU HEAR ME? In the end, he had a brilliant idea of turning the house into a thumping rave party. He wore the kids out by cranking up the stereo and making everyone dance till they dropped. I’m sure the neighbors loved it. Everyone was worn out when I returned, so that’s all that mattered.
Today, all that’s left in our pantry are the last bits of granola bars, aging blueberries, some leftover stir-fry, and the rest of the (eeew!) healthy snacks – everything else was scarfed up days ago; no one wanted to venture out for more provisions. The dogs are getting wary of us. Finally, this morning the rain has stopped, the sun blinding our weak eyes. We are preparing to leave this place that has become too cramped and go anywhere else but here. Just in time. I think we might survive.
Under these conditions, I did not make as much progress toward my goals as I had hoped. Next week should be much more productive, and much more peaceful.
Goals for March:
- Complete my novel revision – Closing in on the halfway mark at page 149 out of 325. Really need to pick up the pace in the final week!
- Post two blog entries each week – Goal met! At least one out of three still made, not ideal, but I’ll take it.
- Update my journal project and keep it current – Not even close. No progress made on this goal at all. Notes in my head don’t count.
How are you doing on your writing goals?
valerie r lawson 
I dread the day of the teen! Son is only 9 and doesn’t seem to mind staying in some days. Luckily, it’s been beautiful here for his spring break. He helped in the yard some and played a lot more outside than in. I had to work all week, but at least I was able to work from home yesterday and today. Got some more gardening done. Still loads to do, and then the roses come! 🙂 at least my son is learning the value of work! 🙂
sounds heavenly. don’t worry about the teen years so much. everything seems to happen gradually, like living in a pot of water as it slowly comes to a boil; you become used to the temperature as it increases by degree.
We cracked up over this one especialy the dog bt.
ha ha! yes, the dogs are a lot less skittish now that we have more food and that we’ve all been out of the house for a few days, playing in the sunshine.