Harmony
I treasure those rare moments when my job and my son are in total harmony with each other.
The other morning I was sitting at the kitchen table, on deadline, editing an article while I waited for him to finish breakfast. He kept pointing and screeching, and after I'd run out of things to give him to eat/play with (more Cheerios, my spoon, my empty bowl), I finally realized he wanted my pen. It must've been those cool squiggly things I was doing on the paper.
I wiped him off, cleaned his tray, got him his own piece of paper and his own pen and prayed it would keep him quiet until I got to a place where I felt comfortable breaking off.
I ended up finishing the edit then and there.
In between edits, congratulating him on making such nice lines, and congratulating myself on finding something that actually entertained him quietly, I mentally kicked myself for not having figured this out sooner - for not having trusted him to want to make lines instead of eat the pen. In truth, he loves all things adult, and wasn't it my biggest fantasy to have my child sit beside me, working as I worked?
Yes folks, sometimes reality does come amazingly close to fantasy. Not often. But enough to keep hope alive.
An added bonus: that part about how my son loves all things adult? He picked up the funniest mannerisms from our writing time together. He now flips his pages from side to side, in much the same way that I turn them face down once I'm done editing them. And he clears his throat - one guess why.
I love this writing-and-mommy stuff.
The other morning I was sitting at the kitchen table, on deadline, editing an article while I waited for him to finish breakfast. He kept pointing and screeching, and after I'd run out of things to give him to eat/play with (more Cheerios, my spoon, my empty bowl), I finally realized he wanted my pen. It must've been those cool squiggly things I was doing on the paper.
I wiped him off, cleaned his tray, got him his own piece of paper and his own pen and prayed it would keep him quiet until I got to a place where I felt comfortable breaking off.
I ended up finishing the edit then and there.
In between edits, congratulating him on making such nice lines, and congratulating myself on finding something that actually entertained him quietly, I mentally kicked myself for not having figured this out sooner - for not having trusted him to want to make lines instead of eat the pen. In truth, he loves all things adult, and wasn't it my biggest fantasy to have my child sit beside me, working as I worked?
Yes folks, sometimes reality does come amazingly close to fantasy. Not often. But enough to keep hope alive.
An added bonus: that part about how my son loves all things adult? He picked up the funniest mannerisms from our writing time together. He now flips his pages from side to side, in much the same way that I turn them face down once I'm done editing them. And he clears his throat - one guess why.
I love this writing-and-mommy stuff.
posted by Christa M. Miller at 1:36 PM
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