It's Friday, Issue #108
a report on the Mommy Experiment
As I mentioned last week, the school year in Los Angeles has begun—at least for kids enrolled in LAUSD.
(Last Friday, I saw so many darling street urchins in my neighborhood…and then I realized they were just rich private school kids who hadn’t yet started their fall semester! How come so many affluent white hipster parents let their kids don rags and wear their long hair unbrushed and knotted? They look like extras from Annie! Meanwhile, the kids at the Title I school down the block look immaculate…)
Anyway. We began with a two-day school week, a soft launch, and this week we headed into the full five day routine. It took me a second, but I have officially shed my Full-Time Mother sash for the one that reads Writer and Teacher With a Flexible Schedule So She Can Pick Up Her Kids by 4 pm. It’s a charmed life!
On the first day back at my co-working space, I felt a little nervous. A full day of writing—it was daunting! I’m starting to get the hang of it. After nine weeks with three kids, my days feel more peaceful and more intellectually rigorous. They’re also less lively. A bit lonely, too.
I go to exercise class and work on my novel and answer emails and write this Substack. I read as I eat my packed lunch—or, the ultimate luxury, I meet a friend at a nearby restaurant. Because I have to stop working at 3:20 pm (2:20 on Tuesdays) I try to be as focused as possible. My Caltech class and my accountability groups don’t begin until next month so I want to make the most of this extra time.
In the last few days, I’ve also made appointments to see my GP, my optometrist, and my gynecologist; I scheduled and got a mammogram. Getting Shit Done is one of my love languages, and my kids don’t speak it.
I’m back to regular adult life, which gives me the chance to look at back at the last two months. How was it?
As promised, what follows is an unvarnished report on my summer as a full-time parent. (To catch you up: here is the original essay from last year about my decision to divest from the summer camp industrial complex, and here’s what my plan was this year.
Read on for all the dirt…