The secret
Don't clean. Allison Brennan says so.
Seriously. Asked how she raises 5 kids (FIVE!) and still manages a full-time writing career, including her blogging, Allison wrote: "First, I gave up cleaning. It was a huge sacrifice, but it had to be done. My minions, er, children pitch in and help...."
It's true. I don't do much cleaning either. In fact, I put a system in place wherein Hamlet must earn one of the thousands of toys in our basement (thanks, Grandma!) by helping me out in some way. Often, that way is cleaning.
Allison's interview at Murderati also instills hope in me: her children are in school full-time. Mine: not. So I can't feel that bad about hardly getting to write, and I have something to look forward to: "Afternoons during the week and Saturdays are usually full of kid stuff and lots of driving."
Oh, and there's lots of great writing-related material in there too, especially Allison's description of "pantsing". Check it out, if you haven't already.
Seriously. Asked how she raises 5 kids (FIVE!) and still manages a full-time writing career, including her blogging, Allison wrote: "First, I gave up cleaning. It was a huge sacrifice, but it had to be done. My minions, er, children pitch in and help...."
It's true. I don't do much cleaning either. In fact, I put a system in place wherein Hamlet must earn one of the thousands of toys in our basement (thanks, Grandma!) by helping me out in some way. Often, that way is cleaning.
Allison's interview at Murderati also instills hope in me: her children are in school full-time. Mine: not. So I can't feel that bad about hardly getting to write, and I have something to look forward to: "Afternoons during the week and Saturdays are usually full of kid stuff and lots of driving."
Oh, and there's lots of great writing-related material in there too, especially Allison's description of "pantsing". Check it out, if you haven't already.
posted by Christa M. Miller at 10:30 PM
4 Comments:
THanks for pointing me over there. Brennan is pretty amazing.
Yeah. I'm pretty sure I'd be a quivering mess if I had her life.
My motto when I started graduate school was: I'll clean it after I graduate. Ok, an exaggeration but I seriously let thing go during the semester.
Having just survived my toughest semester, I knew I'd better bring in some help or the health department might show up - so I hired a maid - once a month to beat back the mess - but now the maid has quit (carpal tunnel) and my semester-from-hell is over and I'm getting some cleaning - and writing done.
Have you considered a maid? Even once a month to do the kitchen and bathrooms is worth the expense and the extra time it'll free up for writing.
Josie, we're wondering how we're going to afford home heating oil this year in the Northeast. :( No maids for me!
I don't mind, truly. I've found that cleaning gives me something of a mental break, something to focus on besides whatever I'm not getting done. LOL Also, I'm working on using the time to teach Hamlet how to help out, as Allison mentioned her kids do!
Stop laughing, all you mommy readers. I'm trying to convince myself that cleaning is productive and accomplishes something!
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