Kids and Writing and Life

Just in case anyone out there is wondering: yes, I have four kids, and yes, I write (though not for a full-time living). And sometimes, I have to multitask.

Case in point: this morning. While my wife was out visiting a friend, I stayed home and supervised their school work. I parked myself at the dining room table with my laptop and kept them on task (more or less) with their various school assignments. I realized a long time ago that I most likely will never be the type of writer who has a big office that he goes to during the day, shuts the door and works for hours on end.

As long as I have kids in the house (and probably after that), I'm going to be the kind of writer who seizes the moment, who does more than one thing at the same time, who learns to write with interruptions and life going on around him.

Sure, there are moments in cafés and other quiet places, especially when my wonderful wife takes all the kids somewhere else so I can have an hour or so of peace to write. But those times are the exception. The rule is that writing and life, at least for me, happen together.

I don't feel frustrated about that. It is what it is. And when I write in the middle of things, so to speak, I get to be involved in the rest of my life--the life of a father and a husband.