Where Lydia Kiesling Writes

One day we will clean it all up and fix ourselves.

I’m a freelancer and this is my workspace right now, i.e., the place where I open my computer and try to complete administrative tasks in the absence of the brain space to do any sustained writing. My six-year-old and a girl from her class do remote kindergarten at the two small tables every day. Their classes are usually over by lunchtime and then we all eat at the big table and then, depending on the weather and my will to live on that particular afternoon, we go to a playground or some kind of outing to pass the time until it’s 3:30 or 4:00ish and I feel justified in letting them watch a movie. I used to do more official Activities like making slime or oobleck or attempting some sort of experiment, but it’s been a lot of months and now we just do things on our respective computers and then try to go outside if it’s not raining.

I have actually managed to complete the occasional freelance piece here at the table, but only when the girls are not present or in earshot. My husband, who has a full-time job, works in the guest bedroom and I go in there if I have an urgent assignment. You can see my friend Kathy Wang’s forthcoming novel Impostor Syndrome, which just arrived and is aspirationally sitting on the table so I can remember how much I want to read it. The photo on the wall is of my mom’s hometown in northeastern California and reminds me that I once did write an actual book.

For transparency, I am bravely not wiping down the table or picking up the random breakfast bits from the rug or putting away the seasonings from dinner last night, because this is kind of how we live right now. One day we will clean it all up and fix ourselves.