Inspiration vs. Procreation

It's nearly impossible to put off mom-ness for a rare creative moment. Balancing the two is a constant challenge, yet carving out stolen moments for writing/working is essential to keeping the creative juices flowing. My brain is in songwriter mode right now and when I'm in this state, home duties can really fall by the wayside. However, when the duty involves a live human being, one cannot just hang out all night drinking whisky while dishes pile up and bills remain unpaid (kiss those days goodbye!). I am forever conflicted by my need to be a kickass mom and my need to follow the creative urge.

So just the other night I couldn't get a song idea out of my head. I tried recording it on my iphone (using "Recorder," an amazing invention!) so I could go back to it later, but I just COULDN'T make the noise in my head go away and I was deeply entrenched in "artistic space." The chorus and the verses were starting to mentally line up - I was on a inspired roll - and yet, oh, I had to take care of our son.

So, slightly exasperated (and after many failed pleas for him to go to bed and "wait for mama"), I gave the Bambino a book, a blanket and a pillow and made a little spot for him under the piano so I could finish the song. It was crazy. It was late. It had "bad mom" signs written all over it. But...I was absolutely in the moment and hubby was busy. I had to do something revolutionary. He needed his mama and I needed to follow the impulse.

Now, if he were a toddler, I don't know if I could have gotten away with such sleep time rule breaking, but...this is still summer, we are usually pretty strict on the sleep gig and my mama's boy is just not quite ready to go to bed alone. I won't even tell you how late it was before the child fell asleep, however...

It worked. He had a blast under that piano and we both shared a

welcome rebel moment that neither of us will soon forget. He even broke from his book a few times to offer pointers for the song. So, now Mama has a finished song and he got a mutinous story that he was quite pleased to relay to his friends in the morning.