Myriad
Published by Deanna Hoak September 18th, 2005 in blogTwo weeks ago, I placed my two-year-old with a new daycare provider. He hated his old daycare (the only decent one I’d found on the island) and cried whenever I took him, so I rarely forced him to go. His new provider is a mother in my neighborhood who was a professional nanny for eighteen years. She is fantastic with kids to the point that I have to fight jealousy at how much my son loves her and how much he’s learning in her care, which is exactly the kind of provider I want. :-) He can’t wait to go to her house every morning.
Thus, I’m freed up for the first time in a long while to work guilt-free. (Well, I still have guilt that I’m not taking care of him myself, but that’s something separate. I do choose to work; my personality requires it.) Because I’m largely guilt-free, I’ve been using the extra time to focus on my writing rather than on taking on additional copyediting projects. I sent off two stories last week that had been languishing for want of rewrites and market research, and I’m revising my novel based on helpful critiques from and . I have an offer from an editor at Del Rey to read it when it’s done.
It feels really good to focus on my own writing for a while.
17 Responses to “Myriad”
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I'm a freelance copyeditor specializing in fantasy and science fiction. SF/F novels I have copyedited have been finalists for (and have sometimes won) the Hugo, Nebula, Arthur C. Clarke, Golden Spur, John W. Campbell Memorial, Quill, Locus, Philip K. Dick, British Science Fiction, British Fantasy, and World Fantasy awards. In 2007 I was short-listed for a World Fantasy Award for my copyediting.
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It’s such a relief when your kids feel good about going to daycare. Yay for guilt-free time!
Good for you! I remember the relief of finding a local person to watch my sons whom I trusted and the children loved. Now take care of yourself. Guilt is bad for your writing.
I’m so glad he likes this nanny–that makes things so much better for everyone!
Congrats on tackling your writing. I know that has to give you a sense of accomplishment, and I’m thrilled someone at Del Rey has agreed to give it a look. Hooray!
Talk about an excellent win/win situation. Good for both of you! Heck, good for the nanny, who is obviously trying to earn a living while staying home, too!
Sounds great!
Go Deanna! Go Deanna! :waves pompoms made out of shredded first drafts:
Yeah, it really is being nice. I’m still adjusting!
Yes, I’m enjoying having someone so close who is so wonderful with him.
I’m enjoying making headway on writing! I’m pledging to myself that I’ll keep it up. :-)
Yes, it really does seem like the best of all situations right now. I still deal with a little bit of residual guilt that I’m not taking care of him myself, but I think that’s societal expectations; I know he’s getting absolutely fantastic care, and I’m loving being able to focus on myself for a bit.
It is!
:grins: Thanks. :-)
Speaking as a teacher, now, it’s a great thing you’re doing for him–the kids who’ve been with mommy 24/7 until school begins have the toughest adjustments to make.
And time to yourself really does refill the well.
Yeah, and I know he really is getting a lot out of the experience. I think that as mothers we just wish we could do it all. My rational mind knows that I can’t, though.
I know–been there, felt the same…and so I reassure you the way friends whose kids were older reassured me! The saying that snapped it into focus for me (being a history buff) was reading “It takes a village to raise a child.” Well, that means even way back when Mom wasn’t doing everything–that’s actually a relatively recent expectation. And a deadly one.
That’s true. I think that a much different system is actually the evolutionary norm.
I hope it’s continuing to go well. I’m looking forward to having a signed first edition, you know. *wsmile*