Spending time with your kids: quality versus quantity

Posted on February 12, 2015 by heatherlauraclarke

My kids are at the babysitter’s today.

I have been working for the last six and a half hours, and I still have an hour to go before I leave to pick them up.

I went upstairs a minute ago to grab a glass of milk (yes, and two Oreos) and I caught sight of a familiar red snowsuit. I could see them, just barely, from the kitchen window. They were all playing outside in the sitter’s backyard, throwing snowballs at each other.

In that moment — clutching my Oreos, standing in a quiet house, getting a ton of work done, and NOT being out in the freezing cold pretending to enjoy myself — I was really, really happy with our decision to get childcare one day a week.

Of course, I immediately felt a little guilty for being so grateful.

Read more about these kinds of feeeeeeeeeeeelings in this week’s parenting column, if you’re so inclined?

Click to read my column on childcare, no childcare, and related feeeeeeelings

Category: Mommy confession, The Mom Scene

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I’m Heather Laura Clarke. I’m writer living in beautiful Nova Scotia, I have a 11-year-old son and a nine-year-old daughter, I married my high school sweetheart, and this is the story of my handmade life.

I have depression and anxiety, and I fight like hell every day to keep it from taking over my life. Making things isn’t just a hobby — it’s part of what keeps me alive.

Whether I’m writing novels, decorating a room, busting out my power tools to build furniture, getting muddy in the pottery studio, sewing clothes for my kids, or cross-stitching a swear word, I’m all about using my creativity to craft a life I love.

I’ve been writing this blog since 2009, so if you dig deep into the archives, you’ll meet a bright-eyed 25-year-old newlywed who was basically obsessed with having kids, buying a cozy house, and supporting herself full-time as a writer. (Spoiler alert: she got exactly what she wanted.)