I wrote a somewhat funny yet practical article about being in the arts and also raising kids at http://joechiappetta.blogspot.com/2007/11/how-to-balance-being-parent-with-being.html

Leave a comment there and let me know what you think. Thanks.

At last! Another parent out there! Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who's crazy enough to work on webcomics.

Very good article. It sounds like your priorities are very much in line with mine. It's hard sometimes to walk away from your muse and the desire to create that is part of the fiber of an artist, but the kids HAVE to come first.

I'm actually a single mom of two, with an ex who does as little as he possibly can. I work a day job, freelance, and get the kids to all of their activities with almost no help from him. So to work on my webcomic, I do a lot of late night drawing. I think the most frustrating thing for me is the ungrateful readers who gripe when I miss updates, or have to take breaks because of things like a sick child or a father having open heart surgery. If they had any idea what it takes just to find time to work on the webcomics at all as a parent....but most readers don't.

Thank you for sharing this article!

~B

I left a detailed comment over at your blog, Joe. B)

And Barb, I'm one of the few, too! :)

It is harder to do a webcomic as a parent, because even if you aren't raising them alone (you have my support and admiration on that one, Barb), you still have to make your art come last. You still get things done, webcomic-wise, as best you can. I have done as much as 2 pages a week for a whole issue -- but now, I've got to pace myself at one page a week. Between responsibilities, family time and managing my own health, that's just the way it's got to be. It is extremely encouraging that my wife co-writes our webcomic, though. It's definitely one of the things that helps me.

As a parent, at some point, you realize that you (whether one parent or two) are all these kids have. You made them (or adopted them into your life as quickly as you could) and you're responsible for what happens to them. If we let them down, we endanger their future opportunities in so many areas.

So we sacrifice for them our time and our freedoms because that's not only what's right, but if we want them to feel loved and to succeed in life, we have to teach them that example...so that (a)they CAN feel loved and appreciated and encouraged; and (b)if they have kids, they can pass those lessons on to them (and the cycle continues, for good or ill).

So don't let the gripes over a deadline bug you too much, Barb. You have your priorities straight, and it sounds like you're doing a pretty good job! :)

I am not a parent, but I do appreciate people like iowabarbidoll and dueeast and Joe who are and still produce work so diligently. I know how hard it is to juggle work and other things, and just how MUCH of responsibility and dedication a child demands (I bow to parents who really take on the parental role as opposed to all the rest).

So my hat off to all you parents! Your children are proud of you for sure! :D

I had to give up for a while. I admire those who can do it.
I'm a parent of a 4 year old son, and between my child and my job about to be outsourced, and looking for a new job and trying not to lose the house, I have no time in the day for art. Sucks.

You guys got it all wrong! Force your children to do the comic for you! It's much easier.

We have an 11 year old son and a 2 month old daughter, and it's difficult. I use to try and do it all myself, but I've started to accept help from those around me, with my best friend assisting on layouts, another friend now doing color work, and my SO picking up a pen to ink on one of the books, and even then it's still difficult, because of my paying job. Nothing to ink or color if I don't have time for pencils.

I've taken to carrying my scripts around on a flash drive so I can work on them at my job when I have those three or five minute windows, and drawing whole pages out as broken up panels in my sketchbook, when I'm on the run, to later be assembled in Photoshop. This past weekend, I actually got three pages lettered and almost got an entire page pencilled. Once would have been a time when I could have done all that in a day and gotten another two pages from pencils through inks, but...eh....

You do what you can when you can, and people either deal with it or they don't. They're not paying your bills, buying your supplies, or raising your kids.

I'm not a parent ( although I would like to be someday) but I can imagine it must be tricky...you know taking a break from your muse to take care of a screaming little kid. I admire parents who can do that and raise children. In fact I respect anyone who has kids in general. Of course I have respect for webcomic artists in general too, but I think it takes something TOTALLY different to be a parent, much less a good parent.
Being an artist can be hard and so can being a parent. Being an artist AND being a parent at the same time and over all putting your kids first? Good job, good luck and I hope everything works out for you. :)

That's one of my fears...

I want a kid, but I'm really afraid how much it will take over my life. I mean, I'm not going to say to my wife "we shouldn't of had that child... it was a mistake" or anything like that...

I'm sure that when I have a kid, my readers will understand that I have to take care of my family first and if the comic is in the way then I have to put a hold on the project until later notice.