{"id":11732,"date":"2012-05-22T11:45:14","date_gmt":"2012-05-22T18:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/momservations.wordpress.com\/?p=11732"},"modified":"2012-05-22T11:45:14","modified_gmt":"2012-05-22T18:45:14","slug":"the-call-of-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/2012\/05\/22\/the-call-of-success\/","title":{"rendered":"The Call of Success"},"content":{"rendered":"

Momservation: <\/strong>Doesn\u2019t matter to your kids what you\u2019ve achieved in life as long as you\u2019re the maker of pancakes, kisser of boo-boos, and player in make-believe.<\/p>\n

\u263a\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u263a\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u263a<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Hello, Success, Fame and Fortune? Hang on a sec, while I take this other call\u2026<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve had ambition to be a writer since 4th<\/sup> grade when a teacher introduced our class to Shel Silverstein<\/a> and a story I wrote took me all the way to 2nd<\/sup> place in a regional speech contest.<\/p>\n

When I began college I imagined myself being the youngest writer to land on the New York Times Bestseller list.<\/p>\n

As the rejection letters accumulated for my first manuscript, I pictured myself one day being the female John Grisham<\/a> \u2013 lots of people would be sorry one day they passed me over.<\/p>\n

Well, to quote Woody Allen<\/a>: If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.<\/em><\/p>\n

He must think I\u2019m a real stand-up comedian by now.<\/p>\n

Okay, so the time-table of my success is a little off, but here\u2019s the thing about us Type-A personalities: we\u2019re not quitters. I know I\u2019ll get there one day. Patience young grasshopper.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s just that my priorities have shifted a bit as I realized this life is a marathon and not a sprint.<\/p>\n

And by priorities I mean children. These impressionable little people you only get one shot with.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong, I\u2019m pleased with the measure of success I\u2019ve found as a writer. Do I think I would be more advanced in my career if I wasn\u2019t constantly putting things on hold for summer vacations, chauffeuring, chaperoning field trips, volunteering in classrooms, laundry, homework, meal planning and prepping, nagging, organizing and doing all things Mom?<\/p>\n

For sure.<\/p>\n

Do I look at Kelly Corrigan<\/a>, NYT Bestselling author and mother, who also started as a family columnist before rocketing to meteoric success with a little book called THE MIDDLE PLACE<\/a> while fighting cancer and juggling a family and sometimes think: Lucky bitch.<\/em><\/p>\n

No, of course not!<\/p>\n

Okay, yeah, sometimes. Usually when it\u2019s that time of the month and the kids won\u2019t quit bickering.<\/p>\n

But really, the point is, as soon as I had kids, all bets were off on what I believed being successful meant.<\/p>\n

Now, to me, being successful means being there each night to kiss my kids goodnight and tell them I love them. Also:<\/p>\n