There was a Twitter thread that a friend pointed out to me a few days ago.
Apparently, Nora Ephron was speaking about how we’re all keeping a bunch of balls in the air at one time. We’re going to drop a few things but we should make sure that it’s a plastic ball (one that will bounce and recover) and save the glass ones (ones that would shatter or be irreparably harmed if dropped).
As a stay-at-home parent/writer this particular spoke to me because I have wayyyy too many balls in the air at one time.
House stuff. Family stuff. Kid stuff. Marriage stuff. Fitness and health stuff. Writing stuff. Business stuff. Stuff that happened in the past, happening right now and will happen eventually.
The emotional labor of being the primary caretaker for two kids plus running a house and somehow also trying to be a productive member of society can be exhausting and I’m constantly dropping things.
“Plastic balls” that I’ve dropped:
– Serving pizza for dinner
– Packaged snacks for my kid’s soccer
– skipping a workout
– no Pinterest worthy decorations at my kid’s birthday party
– Another hour of screen time!
– Missing a play date
The “glass” ones:
– my health
– my kid’s health
– my marriage
– our finances
– deadlines
The idea isn’t that I won’t ever drop one of them, but knowing and acknowledging that I WILL drop something. And some things will have to be sacrificed. There are only so many hours in the day. Some days, I’ll leave the dishes in the sink so I don’t miss a deadline. Some days, I don’t run the spelling words with my kid for the 50th time because he’s going to be late for soccer. Some days, I sacrifice a bit of sleep to spend quality time with my spouse.
Being a mom & a writer means that I’m trying to juggle so many things at once. The story I’m telling in my head, the business plans and they daily tasks of being a parent and running a house. Throw on me trying to work out and eat right and have friends and have a hobby and I’m bound to drop something.
So if I drop a plastic ball and it effects you, pleas forgive me. You never know which glass ones I had to save instead.
If you are dropping those spinning plates, be kind to yourself. Tomorrow is another day. ❤️
Gwen Gavin Books 