With my focus on seeing my self-publishing dream turn into reality, I totally dropped the ball on making any “Life Writing” entries so far this summer break. I previously mentioned to you that I would be starting the “Life Writing” series to show you just how much writing has become a focal point in my life. For any of you wonderful people out there that have been accompanying me on The Road to Authorship, I think you’re probably well aware of this fact. But, my goal with this series was to incorporate everyday living into the writing mix and feature some of the different ways writing has become an integral part of my life.

Last week marked the start of the journaling process for me and Little Man, my 9-year-old son. I pretty much have been writing down the eventful and thought-provoking things that have been happening in the course of my day. I’ve also directed Little Man to do the same. He’s not as much of a willing participant in this process as I am, but each day gets to be less and less of a tug-of-war. I think he’s coming to the realization that I’m not going to back down and that writing will be a part of his life (of course, not to the same extent it is for me). I’m just trying to encourage the unfamiliar to become the familiar; and the more he gets comfortable with writing, the less of a chore it’ll be.

Anyway, Little Man and his sister, Toodlez, are the subjects of my entry for today. I’ve commented in the past about making sure to record the brilliant, funny, and sometimes painfully honest words that come out of my children’s’ mouths. I’ve also been transparent about the fact that I did such a poor job of capturing their awesome sayings, until now. Relying on my memory never works, so I’ve decided to take a more proactive role in writing things down right after they take place. Let me tell you . . . Friday, July 5th was a humdinger of a day for priceless children verbiage and it was written down in my journal for safe-keeping. Here we go.

#1

The following conversation took place, after Little Man proceeded to engage in some entertainment before the prescribed time.

Mom:  “Don’t turn on that television!”

Little Man:  “Mom, that’s so old school. It’s called a tv.”

(A slight amount of laughing resulted, on my part, after this exchange.)

#2

Toodlez and I were in the kitchen, laying down some serious culinary aptitude that involved lasagna, salad, French bread, sweet potato pie, and vanilla ice cream. We were shaping our delectable works of art into edible masterpiece condition. And you know that works of art require moments of creating in deep concentration mode and periods of uninterrupted work flow. So, when my daughter told my oldest son, Junior, to “Get out of the kitchen” (no exclamation point because she did it in calm, Toodlez fashion), I understood immediately where she was coming from. Junior was “LAWITK” (lurking around while in the kitchen). See, that’s a no-no for me and apparently my daughter, too. After she uttered her statement, all I could think was “That’s my, girl. Like mother, like daughter.”

I knew that Junior was just an innocent bystander in deep thought, while standing idly in the kitchen, which is why he appeared to be lollygagging around. That normally wouldn’t have been a problem, but he was caught up in the women’s kitchen while they were doing their thing. And, the women’s philosophy in my home is that if you’re not in the kitchen to help, then get out. You can hang out when the food is done. This is why those direct words came out of my daughter’s mouth in the first place. It’s like this (said another way) . . . if you’re not in the kitchen working, then you’re in the way. I told Toodlez that, when she gets her own place, my house-warming gift to her will have to be a plaque for her kitchen that reads, “Toodlez’ Kitchen – Help or Get Out!” Hee. Hee. I love it.