This old expression feels very current to me. It refers to the fact that a busy cobbler will be so busy making shoes for his customers that he has no time to make some for his own children. Hence the state of my website. I am currently employed as a webmaster, do web work all day long and enjoy myself while I do it. Yet my own home page lies in a state of neglect. I never even used to have one at all as a matter of fact. Only when we bought our house did I take the time to throw together something for people to see in this webspace that I call my own.
So why would a webmaster neglect something like his own website? The answer is the same as the cobbler's... There's so much else to do. I've since realised that it is necessary to pay attention to the cobbler's children. They are indeed important.