She's had her bath and bottle, now she's snuggled into her bed with her pacifier and mobile. Now the second shift of my day begins. Dinner is on the stove, timed so that it will be ready when my husband gets home. He works second shift, too.
Unlike him, I don't have to commute 30 miles round trip. I don't even go three blocks. I step through my front door onto the porch that was enclosed more than thirty years ago and find the office on one side--and what I call "The Pit" on the other.
The Pit is a 6x9 area that I have covered with foam rubber mats. These mats even cover the walls on three sides. The fourth side has rubber mats and a baby gate. Sprinkled over these primary colored mats are my daughter's toys. They are all appropriate for her development and her age. They do their jobs well, too. They keep her occupied long enough for me to push out a few paragraphs here, or design a logo there.
We spend all day 'at work' out there on the porch. We have air conditioning during the 90 degree summers, and we will have heat during the 20 degree winter that approaches. My husband leaves at 11am. Stinkerbell "Peanuts" Lashbrooks and I then make our short three second commute to our office. First I play with her, get her engrossed in some sort of 8mnth baby play, then I slip out the baby gate and step over to my corner of the porch.
First, I check my email to see if I've gotten any responses from my job leads I've chased in the days before and to catch up on the news and check in with the writers of the publishing house I'm published through. I've written an historical romance, which released in May. Then its on to the major projects. Most of my graphic design and freelance writing is done privately, under non-disclosure agreements. If these projects are slim (which does happen in my niches) I start lead hunting. This takes a good two hours of my day. By now it's time for Stinkerbell's lunch, diaper change, nap, and Mommy-snuggle time. By 2pm I'm back at the computer for billable hours. I write articles, do research, edit/proofread for fiction clients, or work on a variety of graphic design projects such as newsletters, logos, stationary designs, postcards, magazine layouts, or business cards. I put in 4 to 6 hours on these projects, all around Stinkerbell's needs.
Then it's time for her dinner. I feed her, snack on something myself, then we play for a little while. Then she plays in her play pen while I try to clock another hour or so--this time writing fiction. My first writing love is romance. I usually don't get this hour. By now it's 8 pm or so, and Stinkerbell needs a bath and bottle and snuggled before bed.
This is a LONGGGG process. Stinkerbell fights sleep worse than anyone I've ever seen. By 9 or so, though, the sandman has won.
He won tonight, a little earlier than usual. It's 9:45 while I'm writing this. I started dinner half an hour ago.
Now it's MY time. Stink's asleep, husband is still gone until 11:00pm. I can do what I want with this time (ignoring the house in need of cleaning, of course).
I use it...to chase down more leads, to work on marketing, or to check out social media happenings. Sometimes I write fiction.
Most times, though, I use this quiet, baby-sleep time to work.
The life of a freelancer...Not that I'm complaining. I set my own terms. I spend every day with my child. I'm doing what I love.
