On Time

The other night at a business event, I was asked what I saw as my biggest threat to success.

“It’s time,” I said without pausing. “In a few years I’ll have so much more time, but right now whenever I sit down to write, the kids need me. Even with a babysitter, it’s impossible to get anything done.”

After I responded, the woman who asked offered advice. Work outside the house! Protect your time! Don’t let the kids distract you!

I nodded, promising to try. Little did I know my chance would come the next day when my youngest started crying with the babysitter.

Silently, I gathered my supplies. This is my chance, I thought. I’ll get a coffee and work elsewhere. But as my daughter’s wails grew louder, I found myself walking not to the garage but the playroom, where I found the sitter holding sweet Willa.

“What’s up?” I asked.

The sitter shrugged. “I’m not sure. She’s asking for you.”

Without thinking, I held out my arms, as my daughter reached for me. I held her tight as she started to calm, her cries evaporating as her little body went limp.

“Shhh, it’s all right,” I whispered. “Mommy’s here.”

Then I rocked her until she fell asleep, like I did when she was a baby just a few short years ago.

And when I returned to my desk, I told myself it’s okay if the to-do list stays long, if the books take longer to write. Because in a few years I will have so much more time. But right now I want to be right here at home with a million distractions, because in a few years it’ll be those distractions I’ll miss the most.