Tools of the trade

Time Management~

This is what I do to manage my time between the kids, husband and writing. It's actually less about time management, and more about squeezing in minutes, or hours here and there, between breakfast, nap time, and playdates.
First, I kneel beside my bed, close my eyes, and ask God for more time in the day. When that doesn't work, I go with old fashioned mommy know- how. In the morning, when the kids are eating, I try to sneak in enough time to answer some emails. This lasts for about 15 minutes until my son comes in to ask what I'm doing.
Mid morning, I sit them down with their coloring books. I try to involve my oldest in my writing. This makes time for me to write, boosts his creativity, and allows for us to do something together. I get him some paper and crayons and ask him to write his own story. He loves this, because he wants to be an author like his mom.
Nap time is perfect "quiet time" for your older kids. Give them a set time each day where they have quiet time. Have them come up with activities to work on while the little one(s) is napping. Now you have a good hour and a half (depending on how long your baby sleeps) to yourself to get some work done. My problem is that I have to do everything at once, so I will often be found working on a story while doing laundry, cleaning, and attempting a shower without any curious little ones trying to get in.
I write a lot of books in the shower. Sort of.
I come up with the most amazing ideas and have to quickly dry off and write them down(which makes for an interesting shower. Drying off, getting back in...etc.)
In the afternoon when I take the kids out to play I will sit on the picnic table and jot ideas for marketing and promotion in a notebook to reference back to later.
Around 10 pm., I take a deep breath and finally sit. Of course by this time, the kids are asleep, and my husband wants to watch T.V. Around 1 am. or so, all is quiet, and I can write for hours sometimes. It's actually more relaxing to write when the whole house is dark around you, and there is not a thing to worry about but your computer and your thoughts. Unless you fall asleep on the keyboard only to wake up at 4am with asdfghjk on your forehead, and find that your manuscript looks like your baby typed it.

Spilled Milk

8 am~

I wake up to singing birds and glorious thoughts of book promotion. With a smile, I slowly rise from bed and stretch. Then I hear my two year old, in her sweet little voice say quietly, "Mommy!". It always starts slow, and cute. "Mommy! Mommy!" The sweet little sound becomes a loud ringing in my ears. My eight year old walks in casually amid the noise. "Hey Mom. Whatcha doin'?" The madness begins.
I change the baby, pop a waffle into the toaster for the eight year old, and give a hopeful glance toward the coffee pot, praying that my husband thoughtfully made the coffee. Nope.
I look at the clock. 8:20. I get the baby a bowl of cereal, and settle her into the highchair. If I'm lucky, I can get in a good ten minutes of writing. I settle with my coffee still brewing into the chair in front of my computer. Silence. Ten seconds go by.
Just as my fingers grace the keyboard, "Mom! Look what Emma did!"
I run to the highchair to find my daughter, spoon in hand, with the last of her cereal on her head, along with the bowl.
"Mommy look! Hat!"

In my head, I can hear the sound of a 2 a.m. writing session calling my name.