Bathroom Prisoner vs. Hermit's Cabin

As far from idyllic as our lives may seem at times, we are who we are by a product of what we have experienced. And we as Mothers have experienced a lot. Our children demand an extraordinary amount of time…Most of which we are glad to give, but at times, I admit, I do crave just 10 minutes alone in the bathroom. I have finally started locking the door to keep the wandering pre-schooler out during my daily ablutions.

I sometimes daydream of a small cabin tucked away in the Colorado Rockies… My hermit's retreat. If I actually lived there alone all the time, would I revel in my precious serenity as a cat twists and turns in ecstasy before finally lying down? Or would I be overcome in a seemingly endless boredom. Why read that book or piece that quilt or write that short story now, when I have a thousand more days just like today in which to accomplish something? Or nothing at all!
PROCRASTINATION: Constant companion of the bored or the catalyst for the productive.

As it is…my life is 180 degrees from a hermit's life in a secluded cabin. I suspect yours is too. Sometime between all of the "Mommmeee!" 's and the "Honey, where is the…" I try to find time just to shower and get my make-up on. Forget about trying to write anything, sew anything or be creative in any way. Sometimes after the homework is completed, swim practice over, supper cooked and eaten, kitchen cleaned, and laundry folded, paperwork completed and checks written… I do manage to get a few thoughts on paper. Even now as I write, I have locked myself into the bathroom and am sitting on the cold tile floor with pencil and pad.

Living within the confines of the family dynamic, I must say, there is such rich fodder for the written word. The family is such an interesting place to reside… to observe every emotion you could ever hope to conjure on paper…love, anger, jealousy, selflessness and selfishness, fights and more fights and that's just the kids…

So… cold-tiled floor withstanding, I wouldn't trade my life for the hermit's…after all, I am who I am by virtue of the stresses in my life. What does that writer-hermit write about anyway????