"Just A Minute..."

Sometimes I miss the days when I didn't have to keep one eye on the clock. Just write...and write....and write.

I used to get up in the morning, take the kids to school, check my email, drink one more cup of coffee, and write until they arrived home, or I happened to take a break and go pick them up.

And then there were the days I'd write all the way through until the kids came in to kiss me goodnight.

All that came to a screeching halt when I had my youngling. Suddenly, I had three years of only writing during nap time. And that was if I didn't fall asleep with him!

And then I enrolled my youngest in Head Start.

If I didn't set a timer, I was habitually late. I'm fortunate to live in a small town, so unless I catch a train, I can get across town in five or ten minutes. But his teacher soon realized my baby would most likely be the last one picked up every day, because his mom was 'in the zone'.

My SU has threatened several times to pull the plug on the computer, if I happen to be working all the way up to dinner or bedtime. After all, in his eyes, he's worked hard all week and would like to see more than the back of my head all day, and why should he have to cook, clean, and bathe the baby? That's my job as Mommy.

But now his health has gone downhill, and is no longer able to return to his job. So now he helps out around the house, especially if I warn him ahead of time I'm promoting via chat; writing; or preposting a blog interview.

But he's also likely to interrupt me if something is perceived to be 'more important'.

What about you? Ever lose track of time and forget to do something, or forget dinner's boiling dry on the stove? I've burned spaghetti, due to a brain storm which was 'only going to take a minute...' and ended up taking fifteen.