UPDATE – Dec. 19, 2008 – It snowed all week. Five snow days in a row off school. More snow predicted to fall before Christmas. Running out of things to keep kids occupied. Someone suggested letting kids play with these online games for all ages.
* * *
We interrupt our regularly scheduled program – because it’s a snow day – and I’m not just talking about the WordPress feature that lets snow fall over your blog.
It’s really snowing, as you can see from this picture of my front yard. Unlike the New England city it’s named after, Portland, Oregon, practically comes to a stand still if it snows more than an inch or two. That’s exactly what happened yesterday. Then it got even colder and everything iced over, making driving around the city and especially in the West Hills of town where I live pretty treacherous, like this road that passes right by my house:
The kids are overjoyed because it means no school. But I’ve got tons of writing to do. So how do I do what I’ve got to get done?
1. Get up before anyone else is awake and work like a mad woman.
2. Forego my normal nagging about too much screen time.
3. Hole myself up in the office and ignore the chaos happening around me.
4. Try to accomplish as much as possible and if I think I won’t be able to make all my deadlines let editors know ahead of time.
If you write or do some other type of work from home, how do you handle snow days?
Michelle,
I completely agree with #1 and #2. As for #3, unfortunately, my desk is in the corner of the living room!
Sometimes it helps to give them a little time as well. Instead of reading a newspaper or writers forum online (my usual “coffee breaks” during my work day), I’ll take 10 minutes to play a card game with my kids. (My 5-yo and I are into Kings’ Corners these days).
Great ideas Jill. I spend too much time on message boards anyway, so I like your idea of giving that up to hang with the kids for a break.
Thanks,
Michelle
Great post, Michelle! I agree, one thing I always tell myself (not to be smug, but realistically!) is that compared to kids who come home to an empty house or those who attend after school programs, my daughter gets *much* more one-on-one adult attention on a daily basis. So, just like a little junk food here and there won’t ruin an otherwise healthy diet, a couple of days a winter of watching movies or playing computer games isn’t going to rot her brain. In addition, I try to pare my work day down to the absolute “must do” activities and then go sledding!
Hi Michele. It snows all winter here in Michigan, and even more so because we’re located about a half hour from Lake Michigan, which creates enhancing “lake effect” snows. So today, while it’s about 7 F and clear in Milwaukee across the lake, it’s 16 F and snowing in Grand Rapids. My family is holed up in the house with me and I’ve had to set up strict rules about interrupting me. That only works for so long, like a moment ago when there was a spider emergency. In those instances, I quickly run to their rescue, make a little fun of the “spider tamer” (an unused Swiffer mop), then go back to my office and everyone is happy I gave them a couple of minutes. I also make sure I give them a block of quality time around the dinner hour before returning to work later in the evening — that also allows me to recharge my creative juices. Sometimes I need to break away for a quick breather between projects or between pages. In those instances, I give myself and my family 15 minutes to chat or play a quick game or watch a little TV. It has to be disciplined so the time doesn’t stretch beyond 15 minutes, however. Good luck, it’s hard to deny our families when they’re so happy to be home with us.