And it’s Half Term already…

When you’re an ex-teacher or a parent, you tend to measure time in terms… that is in school terms.

There are three major school holidays in the UK: Summer, Christmas and Easter. There are also holidays of approximately a week half way between each holiday. So when your friends start talking about having kids around for half term, they’re talking about the holidays half way between whichever major holiday has just past and whichever is ahead.

Confused? *grins*

Today is the first day of the first half term of 2013. That’s actually half way through a UK school year, so it’s the third holiday rather than the first one… and to make matters worse, it’s only half term for the western half of the UK; the eastern half are still at school!

*yawns*

My son woke me up at half six this morning, laughing at the TV from the safety of his Duvet instead of while getting into his school uniform. My daughter is currently ensconced on the couch watching Disney Jnr. TOH is still fast asleep… yes, he’s home as well; College follows the UK school year as well.

What does this mean to me?

Well for a start, it means that my normal weekly timetable is out the window. There’s no Guides or Brownies this week and no privacy for me. Essentially, half term is a loooooong weekend for me. *sighs* I get distracted by everyone for a whole week, no matter what I try to do.

So having had my coffee ration by eight thirty, I thought I ought to get some work done while the kids are still distracted by the TV. Yes, I’m one of those mothers and I don’t care what you think – I do enough with my children to allow the use of electronic babysitting.

What am I working on again?

I have a list on the board next to me:

Today I’m doing my best to get #2 of The Tower and The Eye rewritten so I can get it out on kindle this month. Hopefully, that means I won’t get distracted, but listening to the noise from the other end of the room, I suspect that is a vain hope.

Once I have done that, I’ll work on the print version of #1 of The Secret of Arking Down – The Angel’s Crown. It’s already available as an e-book on various websites, but I really want a print edition as well…

So I’m going to attempt some work now. Wish me luck!