An ogre-sized kick in the arse

We watched Shrek 4 today. I enjoyed it, but it made me feel awful about how much time I've spent at home lately not doing homey things. Our house is a wreck right now, and we're behind on everything, because whenever I'm not at work, I'm working on Campaign Narrative, a website I've been crafting to role-play online. Put simply, I've been selfishly neglecting my responsibilities as husband and father.

So, I'm going to stop. I'm not going to stop working on Campaign Narrative, but I am going to stop working on it until I've caught up at home, and in the future I'll be more disciplined about only working on it *after* my family responsibilities are fulfilled. With a 6-week old baby, an autistic son, two other kids, and a job that demands more than its fair share of time, I need to learn what capacity I have for 'more'. Life just delivered an ogre-sized kick in the arse and told me that, for now, I have very little room for 'more'. It does this every year or so, and I still haven't learned the lesson. Here's to hoping it sinks in this time.

Why am I 'blogging this seemingly private matter? For one, I wanted to explain to my Campaign Narrative play-testers why things are changing. But I also wanted this out in the open, as a reminder not to over-commit, even to myself, at the expense of my family responsibilities. Perhaps some other father will read this and realize that he's been subconsciously neglecting his family responsibilities. Better yet, perhaps he'll consciously realize that he's ordered his life well, and neglects nothing. I'll work hard to get there, too.