Tess is home sick today. No big deal, some folks think, because I am a stay-at-home Mom. But you know what? It is a big deal. I am working on an article about Mary Johnston and Three Hills Inn, Warm Springs, Va. and I am also giving serious thought (and research) to my next book project. I am thinking about writing some articles about the subject. If I sell them first, I will have an easier time selling the book. So, now that Tess is sick, I have to pull back, re-work my schedule.
Even if I was “just” a stay-at-home Mom, having a child at home when you are not planning it can really mess things ups. One of the things I’ve learned over the past 7 years is to be flexible in my expectations of what I can get done. So, I am being put to the test again.
I can hear the clicking of the tongues out there. Yes, one needs to put their children first. And I do. But that doesn’t mean that I can easily ignore the other parts of me. The parts that engage something else. Without my work, I would have lost my mind several years ago.
So this is my survial strategy. When this kind of thing (like Tess being sick) messes up my process, I use the time to think. While I am keeping Tess company, getting her water and medicine, and dressing the Barbie doll for the 75th time, I am thinking about my article on Mary Johnston; when I am really together and ambitious, I have my notebook beside me, jotting thoughts down so that I can follow up when I have the time.
Did you ever write the article on Mary Johnston, Three Hills Inn? I stayed there 45 years ago. It was owned by the Crouzets at that time. Just stayed there over the weekend, my fifth return visit in the past five years. I am very nostalgic about the inn and sad that it is for sale. Let me know if I can find your article.
Thanks.