On writing, or the lack thereof

So, I haven’t managed to start any kind of writing yet since giving birth to Liam.  Nor have I been doing much reading beyond that for the Australian Shadows Awards.

I’m finding myself itching to start doing both again.

And yet, I’m content for the time being to not go back to my crazy schedule of writing.  Liam’s only going to be this age once, and I don’t want to miss these years (or for him to miss out on his mother for these years) through forcing myself to try to go back to my old output.

So.  I want to get back to writing and reading.  And I want to be a present parent as much as I can be.

I need to resolve both of these things into one life.  I want to be there for Liam, to enjoy his first years and help him develop.  And at the same time, I need to write.

The logical way is to write when Liam is sleeping – either getting up early or staying up late and snatching some time, or working while he’s napping during the day.  The first options aren’t going to be doable for me, since I need to get as much sleep as possible or risk a flare, thus rendering me completely useless.  So I’m left with the second option.

Liam’s naps at the moment are usually between 40-60 minutes, with the occasional 2-3 hour nap.  Most of the time they’re fairly unpredictable, though he has fallen into a very rough routine.  I have absolutely no desire to force him to a strict routine, before anyone suggests that.

The problem here is that I’m using these snatches of time during the day for other things.  The house still needs to be tended to – I’ll admit that it’s not being tended to as well as I would like, though everything is always hygienic and mostly tidy.  I need to eat a good diet and I need to exercise.  The latter, I’ve been very lax about – my preferred exercise is walking, and most days have been too warm for me to be able to walk.  I’ve started going out for a walk on the cooler days, taking Liam in his pram (though I’ll likely switch to using a sling as the weather cools even more).

So.  There are things that cannot slide.

And then there are the other things.  Most of which reside on the internet.  I’ve been spending a lot of time wandering around various parenting forums.  Livejournal eats up a decent chunk of time, as does catching up with other blogs via rss.  I do read most of my rss feeds using Netnewswire on the iPhone, usually in the wee hours while I’m feeding Liam.  And to be honest, right now I mostly skim them.  I’m trying to keep up more with LJ, but I’m still skimming a lot.

I’m not going to push anything right now, but I do need to have a look at the time I have to use and figure out where I can scratch out some time for the word mines.  Never is beginning to eat my brain, and if I don’t give it form, my skull will be hollowed out.

Which means that I need to find a way to resolve them both.  The logical way is to start writing and reading while Liam’s sleeping.  At the moment, his daytime naps are all over the place – most of the time they’re only 40-60 minutes, and I

Mirrored from Stephanie Gunn.