An Ode to the Excersaucer
People are always asking me: What is the secret of your average success, Kate? How do you manage to write a blog while caring for two children, and balancing a tepid career as a freelance writer on top of it all?
I am not one to keep secrets to myself. Follow my plan and you too can enjoy the heights of literary-journalistic mediocrity. Basically, you need to be able to type with two hands. That may not seem like a benefit to those of you reading this with a baby in your lap, but the reading experience wouldn’t be as good if I could use neither capital letters nor punctuation.
I owe it all to the Excersaucer. My baby does not have the model depicted above (image link courtesy of Amazon), but an older version handed-down from her brother. In fact, before it belonged him, it belonged to a family who moved back to the US from Germany. Durability, though, is not the main benefit of this toy.
No. The main benefit of the Excersaucer is that it keeps the baby entertained for 30 minutes, upon completion of which she is tired enough to nurse for five minutes and then sleep for 75 to 90 minutes. During that 75 to 90 minutes I am able to maintain one train of thought! For a good hour, my typing gathers steam and I whistle out as many words as I can. And, if I keep a note of where I was and what I was thinking, then I can reboard that train of thought where I left off after the next interruption.
Pardon all the bad steam engine metaphors. I am equally dependent on Thomas and Friends to keep my three year-old busy if I don’t finish my assignments by the time he comes home from preschool.
At least I don’t stick them in front of the TV, I was going to say in my defense. But, alas, I do that too.
Tags: freelance-writing, managing-childcare-while-working-from-home, Working-from-home
2 opinions for An Ode to the Excersaucer
Babylune
May 25, 2006 at 1:53 am
[…] The television is less important, but a few days ago, I confessed to sticking the kids in front of it to get more work done. While that is true, I had no idea how other parents were using the electronic babysitter. According to an article in The Globe and Mail, almost 1 in 5 children under the age of 2 has a television in his or her room. […]
Afficionados of Ink » Blog Archive » First issue! (on the new blog)
Dec 17, 2006 at 4:52 pm
[…] Kate Baggott presents An Ode to the Excersaucer posted at Babylune, saying, “Balancing childcare and a freelance writing career? It cannot be done. You need toys, TV and cunning to maintain a train of thought.” […]
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