I was supposed to post earlier this week, but was in a pain killer state of existence and did not want anything to show up on the internet that I wouldn’t remember putting there 🙂

I have three children – they are 7, 9 and 11.  The 11-year-old is going into middle school next year (freak out!!!) and as such, we are re-negotiating boundaries and expectations.  One of the benefits I have of teaching high school is I am very aware of what makes kids rebel against anyone and I have been trying to incorporate this into my parenting – if rules are too strict, if there isn’t room for discussion and negotiation, the tween/teen will shut down, tune out and in some cases rebel. 

When he didn’t follow through with his commitment to let us know where he was yesterday, my initial reaction was to ground him for the weekend.  But then I remembered it was the first weekend of the summer and I really don’t want that to be the mood for our summer break, so I told him that if he were to create a contract that outlined his responsibilities when he is hanging out with his friends and consequences if he doesn’t follow through with these responsibilities, after discussion I would give him a chance to prove he deserves our trust.

I got thinking about myself as a *child* writer – child because I have really only been seriously at this for less than a year, and I’m learning the lessons, scheduling, time management, etc.  Sometimes I have a tendency to be too hard on myself when I screw up, don’t write, whatever, but equally, I need to hold myself as accountable for my actions as I expect my son to – I need to create a contract with myself along with the consequences if I don’t follow through on my responsibilities to myself as a writer and my book.  As with parenting, I imagine there is going to be some trial and error, realizing if the expectation is realistic and really cracking down on the consequences for myself. 

But on the flip side, I should be a more responsible and productive writer, which at this point is the ultimate goal.

What are you doing to keep yourself accountable to yourself?