The Life and Times of a Navy Husband

Yesterday afternoon, as we drove home from Boston, I was complaining to Danielle that I hadn’t been getting any writing done. I said, I think I need to set aside an hour every day. At least.

We could set the alarm and actually drag our butts out of bed in the morning, she said.

Ah ha. So we could! I had been thinking of Sean’s nap time as the only time available to me during the day to get any serious writing or reading done. Lately, those two-three hours haven’t included any writing at all. There’s always too much else going on! By that time of the day, I just need to chill for a little while. Let the static that’s been building up in my brain diffuse back out into the world.

The same is true at night. You have a kid and you think, I can get some work done in the evenings! But by seven o’clock, you’re even worse than you were at nap time. All you want to do is watch a movie or some TV. I was falling asleep last night at 8:30. I managed to wake up enough to pay attention to the end of Castle, but, when Hulu started acting up, we called it a night. I scooped the cat litter and set the timer on the magic coffee maker that brews coffee all by itself before I even wake up.

And here I am, at the early morning desk, actually managing to get writing done. I hope I can stick to it. I was surprised to find that my brain doesn’t seem to mind being asked to think right away. It’s easier to warm up my neurons than it would be to go out for a run, it would seem.

Now the challenge will be maintaining this through the holidays. It takes 21 days to form a habit, says Danielle.