Get It In

About the writing thing. Yeah.
Over the Christmas break, I found myself getting a bit edgy, then cranky. At first, I couldn't figure out why. Then it dawned on me that with both my husband and son home from school (my husband's a teacher), I had to carve out an hour or two from each day for writing, whether they liked it or not. When they're in school, I don't have to account for every hour they're not home. When we're all "on vacation," somehow I do. It's hard to tell your closest loved ones that you have a priority, any priority, that you believe trumps their claim on you. I don't like to do hard things, like explain myself. Maybe that's why it took me so long to get back to writing?
It got worse on the actual days around Christmas and New Year's, because not just my immediate family, but a whole room full of the extended family--none of whom would (or should, for that matter) believe it crucial that I tiptoe away and get in a little scribbling. They all have their own reasons to love or hate holidays, and I can't expect any sympathy from them on this point. But somehow I still seemed to feel it was all their fault I couldn't.
In a related story, my sister told me last year that she had finally figured out that when she kept her ears warm in winter (with earmuffs, in her case), she was a much kinder and gentler person. When she said that, I answered, "And when you know that about yourself, it's your duty to do all you can to make life on this planet that much better for those around you. But new earmuffs."
About halfway through the Christmas vacation, I had it figured out, woke up earlier, and got the writing done, then joined civilized society with a lighter heart. So my point is, now that I know this about my own mood states, whose fault is it if I fail to get a little writing in?
Mine.