buying time

I finally realized that I can’t juggle everything—teaching and editing and writing and child care and house maintenance—without more time. So starting next week, Stella will be in an extended-day program the three mornings a week that Zoë is in preschool. This essentially means that I’m buying back six of the ten work hours I lost when D switched jobs.

I was feeling a little guilty about the plan, but then I sat down and really thought about those morning hours with Stella, which ideally would be spent fashioning pipe cleaners into princesses or practicing her reading, but in reality are spent with her in front of the television and me in front of my computer. (I know, I know. But how else could I make a dent in the work?) Now she’ll be able to craft and play outside with a few of her school friends (who also attend the program), and I can focus—without interruption—on my work for six extra hours a week.

Stella seemed ambivalent about it all, but when we dropped off her paperwork this morning, and she realized she’d be playing with two of her classmates, she begged to start today. Hallelujah!

I think it will turn out to be a positive thing for both of us, and I hope it will help me feel less harried and more balanced. Because I realized something else this week: multitasking sucks. I’m just not good at it. When I divide my attention, my attention is, well, divided. My darlings begin misbehaving to get me to look at them, and I become crabby and exasperated. So my goal with this new schedule is to compartmentalize my work time and be more present with Stella and Zoë and D when we’re all at home together. Talk about A Plan.

How do you all deal with multitasking versus focused family time?