How do real cartoonists do it???

I'm currently holding to a Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule over at Surreal Situations. Understand that my process consists of taking pictures, running them through a filter, taping them to something, arranging action figures in front of them, taking more pictures, then adding text (in word balloons or thought scrolls) to those pictures.

I mean, I'm not actually drawing. Admittedly, when I write it out that way, it turns out that it is rather more labor-intensive than I think it is (and than I think it should be) but still: I'm not drawing in every line.

And yet, it takes up a surprisingly large amount of my time. And I can't do it when the boys are around, which is a problem for pretty much every creative endeavor I've undertaken in the last decade. Which leaves me trying to cram it in either at night, or at odd boy-free moments on the weekends, or just before or after work.

I don't understand how real cartoonists do it.

On the plus side, I discovered this weekend that another line of children's toys, called Woodzeez, has tools and utensils that are size-compatible with the Imaginext guys. All of a sudden, I have props! And I am stupidly excited about it.