I have been spending just about all of my free time lately getting ready for the book launch in April.  Press releases, pitches, edits, post cards, postage . . . so much and so many things.  Check out my new and improved web page by poking around after you read the blog. Anyway, it’s been a busy series of evenings, and I’m not quite done with my list.

Often, I am asked how I do so much, but it’s really not about what I do, it’s about what I don’t do.  Yes, I do write, I do advocate, I do shoot off angry letters to people who misrepresent CHD and I shoot off nice letters to people who get it right.  But there is far more I don’t do.  So, here is my list of all the things I DO NOT DO that frees up just enough time for me to do what I do do.

1. I don’t watch very much TV at all.  Rarely, I get some Masterpiece theater or a show like Madmen or the Closer.  But we’re talking less than three hours a week.
2. I don’t cook – pretty much ever.  Jim does that.
3. I don’t do much laundry either.  I have a basket of things that require delicate cycles and air drying that I own, but Jim does the rest.
4. I don’t go grocery shopping, unless grabbing some bananas while mailing my promotional materials counts – no, it doesn’t.  Again, that’s Jim.
5. I don’t do dishes, take the kids to school, bring the kids home from school, help the kids with their homework, or get them ready for school in the morning – Jim again.
6. I don’t scrapbook, craft, make cute Christmas ornament, bake, or really do much of anything Martha Stewart would commend.

I do get my kids to bed at night and get them in and out of the shower without scalding themselves.  I probably do this only because Jim is so exhausted from doing all the actual work in our home.  I guess the moral of my blog post is that behind every great whatever-you-are is a partner who is even greater.  Thirty years ago, there is no way I could have been the person I’ve become, and thanks to my husband and all he does, I can do a lot more with the time I have.

So for any moms out there who have Jim’s list in your own lives instead of a Jim to do it for you, never, ever let me or anyone else make you feel bad for what you think I’m getting done, because there is so much that  I simply don’t do.   I’d feel guilty for it, but what I do do (advocacy and awareness) matters, and I am always on standby for vomit patrol and humidifier placement – I’m still a mom after all!