Getting Started

I was on my hands and knees on the kitchen floor, scraping up bits of detritus that have been accumulating for several months, when it hit me: "I should start a blog!" I know you think that is the most logical place to decide to start a blog, but in case it's not so clear to everyone, allow me to explain. First, it is mindless work, which always gets me thinking about random things that often result in more work for me or my husband. Second, the scraping of spot-welded bits of onion skin and sparkly things from my son's school craft projects made me reconsider whether the people I pay to clean my house every other week and who had just done a full cleaning less than four days ago are actually relieving us of our cleaning duties so we can do other "important" things, like work. Third, I was fully aware that scraping up the bits of crud really didn't need my attention, that they weren't such a pox on my house, and that I was really doing it to avoid writing, which is what I should be doing every day, for hours, over the summer.

The thing is this: I am a law professor. I profess the law for nine months a year, and when I'm not professing, I am supposed to be writing about interesting (to hopefully more people than just me) legal topics that are Timely and Important. Don't get me wrong, I do write, and I am pretty dedicated to doing it daily over the summer, but sometimes I get bored with my topic, or decide to goof off with my kids, or have an overwhelming need to scape up sticky bits from my kitchen floor, and I lose my focus. Remembering that I always focus on writing better when I start writing something, anything, it occurred to me that I should do some finger warm ups by starting a blog. And voila, c'est fini (my apologies to those of you who speak French for my mangling of such a beautiful language).

In addition to teaching, I also have two kids and a husband. I hate the characterization of them as another "job," because I don't own the idea that I serve two masters (the law school and my family). It's not that having a family doesn't result in more responsibilities for me than I would have if I didn't have a family, it's just that I've always hated the characterization of "wife" and "mother" as some sort of job description that every woman must understand is her rightful position (with the attendant bad boss complaints and griping about terrible pay that many jobs create) the moment she marries or gives birth. I don't hear men talking about family responsibilities as a second full-time job, even if they are. I guess I've never really liked the idea of being defined by my status as a wife and mother, even though being each of those things has made me happier than any old job could ever hope to.

So, add up that I'm happily married (but am an ardent believer in women's rights and have lots of opinions about how women treat, and are treated in, their marriages), have two incredible kids (who are in daycare all day, despite my feelings that they would be better off with less time there and more time with me and my husband), teach in law school (and have tons of thoughts on the law, teaching, and the rampant abuse of apostrophes), and need an excuse to write fun stuff that gets in the writing mood and you've got a blog. Oh yeah, and I randomly get really cranked about political/legal/mommy/career issues, as you can see from the parentheticals in the preceding sentence, and feel like I need a place to vent, or just share, my thoughts, so there should be no shortage of stuff about which to write. I'm sure you, dear reader, are delighted. Of course, that's assuming that you, dear reader, exist, which is not at all a safe bet, but is an assumption I'll need to make to satisfy my ego and encourage me to press on in writing about Timely and Important political/legal/mommy/career issues. So, stay tuned, imaginary friend, if you care to know what I think about an array of things, but I won't blame you if you find something better to do, like scraping the crud off your kitchen floor.