Usually, this is me:

But, this me at the end of the school year with four kids in school:
Now, this is me with all that plus drafting:

This is the kind of stuff baby books don't prep you for. They don't mention that after the round-the-clock nursing, the never-getting-sleep phase, the changing of diapers and the endless decisions of carseats, strollers, soft shoes, cloth diapers, there would be MORE. Much more. The much more of balancing multiple children in various activities, of encouraging passions yet teaching them to compromise. The daily reinforcement of values but the allowance for each child to seek their own path.
And to think, my eldest is only thirteen.
Mothering is an amazing, fantastic journey, but during the month of May, it is pure madness. It is the month of recitals, field trips, school testing. It is also the same month the children begin to hanker for summer and they drag their feet through everything. It is the season of Spring when allergies begin and the sun doesn't set until nine, and no one wants to sleep.
And then there's me. My schedule. My agenda. Because it's important too.
I wrote the first 10K of my WIP, a sweet young romance between a couple of broken characters, in more ways than one. I've got a very loose outline this time, and I am doing my own version of pansting. It is both thrilling and downright scary.
So the pantsing and the schedule wrangling is pushing this Virgo's organization skills. I'm admittedly feeling out of my element. I am muddling my way through. I'm seeing the light at the end the tunnel into summer and into a plot that I think is making sense. But the last couple of weeks? I was in the thick of it all, slashing my way through my schedule-jungle with a machete, taking it one stalk at a time. One word at a time. I ended each night hoping I didn't miss some kind of deadline, the worrywart I am. First world problems, I know, but still...
So, my goals for this month...
- Make it to the summer.
- End May with at least 20K.
- Calm my mojo.
- Sleep on time.
I hope that you all have had a great May thus far! And thank you for listening. :D