Motivation

The title of this post is ironic. I'm feeling ANYTHING but motivated. I have a final to write, a lecture to finish, a house to clean, a garden to weed, laundry to wash -- in other words, all the types of things 40-somethings with kids have to do -- and I feel like doing NONE of it.

My kids will come home from school today, and I will inevitably ask them if they have homework, and if so, to get to it right away. And they won't feel like doing that. And I'll briefly worry that they have no motivation, that they're slobs and lazy, destined for no glory whatsoever. Truth is, if I'd just spent seven-plus hours out of the house, I wouldn't want to rush to do my homework, either. Or my guitar practice, for that matter. And definitely not my chores. In fact, an hour or so in front of the computer or the TV would appeal a great deal to me. That, or exercising on the elliptical while watching Ellen. So, why should I be alarmed that my kids want to watch Hannah Montana or a baseball game, or play basketball when they get home from school?

I shouldn't be alarmed, but their desires to do that when I so WANT them to be more focused and ambitious than I was (or am) causes all sorts of warning bells to go off in my head. It doesn't help that there are tons of parenting advice books out there that would have me never allowing my kids to watch TV (at least not commercial TV) and would also have me keeping my kids busier than they already are. From my perspective, I can't figure out how I'd keep them busier, at least not while I'm also trying to work part-time. Guitar and soccer, baseball and vision therapy, choir and confirmation, Sunday school and regular school. That's enough!

So, I start off my day blogging about a lack of motivation, in an attempt to remind myself that my seemingly lazy kids are no more lazy than their mother. EEK. That's not a comforting thought at all.