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Summer Camp by Shana Galen


Summer Camp

Yesterday I dropped my daughter, Princess Galen, off at summer camp. She’ll be there five more days and four more nights—not that I’m counting.



It’s funny how much I fight for time to read and write every week, but now that I have, more or less, unlimited time, I wish she was home again. The house is too quiet, my hours too unstructured, my evenings too peaceful. I remember before my daughter was born I almost never worked after five o’clock. I had my nights free, but now I’m so much in the habit it feels strange not to have to sit down again after eight o’clock. It’s nice to have time to watch TV or have a dinner with my husband or read more than a half an hour.


This picture is from a visit to the camp a couple years ago because I forgot to take a picture at drop off. I was a little distracted...

But there are negatives too. I’ve realized how much my daughter’s schedule keeps me on a schedule. I always have a long, long to-do list. As soon as I send out one newsletter I have to start writing the next. When I finish one book, I have to revise another. I’m never done. But when I’d have to stop to pick my daughter up from school or art (drama, gymnastics, you-name-it) camp, it would force me to take a break for a few hours. Now I find myself without any reason to stop and feeling like I need to take advantage of this time and get as much done as possible. I already feel like it’s going to be a long week!

So how do you find balance between work and leisure? How do you avoid the temptation of working too much or, conversely, blowing everything off and not working at all?


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