Lost in another world

       

          I started writing a short story a few weeks ago.  I usually concentrate my creative writing on bigger projects like novels.  I tend to have way too much to say to confine myself to just a few thousand words.  But, this time it seems to be working.   

          In fact, I am now at that point in the writing process when my thoughts are almost entirely wrapped up in my story.  My focus is on my characters and I am sort of walking around in a fog of my own life because my brain is in that other world.  

There is still so much editing and tweaking to do, and so, so little time to work on it all.  But, this is my favorite part of being a writer.  I love when my characters and their problems come so alive in my own mind that they start taking it over.  I love how the story begins to unfold and reveal itself with so little effort from me.  It is almost magical when, no matter how crazy my real life gets, I can take myself back to my story in just a spilt second and lose sight of my own frustrations and struggles by shifting my thoughts to the lives of my fictional friends.  I can’t help but revel in the joy of creating a new story, of getting to know people who exist only in my mind.  This is such a passion for me.  

There are times I suffer from writer’s block or from my own insecurities about my abilities.  Sometimes I think writing is too much trouble and maybe I should just quit.  But, then an idea will spark in my mind and take on a life of its own, and I am scrambling once again to find a minute to jot it all down……

Incidentally this is exactly how I felt when I was working on my novel, The Life I Dreamed.  If you are interested in reading the fruits of those labors, check it out here!

DIY story cubes

When we were at Barnes and Noble the other night , my boys and I saw something called “story cubes” in the educational games section of the store.   The game, which was selling for $7.95, was just a few plastic dice with simple little pictures in place of the numbers.  

I seriously contemplated making the purchase.  Those silly little cubes stirred up unending ideas from the writer in me and excited the home educator inside as well.  What interesting ideas could come from those pictures!   What endless combinations could come together to spark new stories- both from my children and myself.  I stood there in the store thinking about it and wanting those cubes.  Then I tried to convince my sons to convince me to buy the silly overpriced activity.  The boys were not nearly as intrigued as I was and wanted a different game, equally overpriced and trivial.

Eventually my practical self took over and we left the store without the story cubes (or the game the boys wanted).  But, even though I could not bring myself to spend eight dollars on a few plastic dice, I still loved the idea of taking random pictures and putting them together in creative ways.  I thought about all the new stories and journal entries that might come from such a game. 

So, I decided we'd make our own story cubes.  I took a few pieces of card stock and cut them into dice shapes, then I invited my children to draw pictures on each side and together we created a free homemade version of what I had seen in the store.  

The kids drew clouds and animals and buildings.  I helped a little and drew a turtle, a castle, an angel, etc….  Today I was treated to two fun stories written by my 7 year old and my 9 year old --both very unique and fun and inspired by the story cubes they helped to make. :)    

Monday morning distraction

We talk a lot of distractions at my house.  Home schooling five children is an experience FULL of distraction.  I am constantly reminding the kids to stay on track with their work and not let their attention be drawn away.  Nevertheless, some of my children handle distraction better than others (I will not mention any names- or even ages or birth orders). 

My three year old is probably our biggest distraction during school (and prayers).  She likes it that way, I think!  But this morning, she got a little taste of what it is like to be right in the middle of something important and then be torn away unexpectedly.   

It was time to fix her hair which is usually quite wild and unruly in the morning.  I called her back to my bathroom where I was waiting with two ponytail holders at the ready…..  I had to call several times and when eventually she did come, she was not happy.  “Mommy, I was playing party and you extracted me!” she told me visibly annoyed.

I am pretty sure she meant that I DIStracted her.  I don’t think she even knows the meaning of the word “extracted”.   But I guess, either way it works—after all, I did sort of “extract” her from her pretend party!

Friday date night

            Tonight is the annual father-daughter dance at our church once again.  And once again, Tim is attending with our three beautiful daughters.  After a crazy whirlwind of getting the girls dressed in their fancy dresses and fixing their hair in perfect princess do’s they were off to the dance.

That left the two boys and I home alone with nothing special on the calendar for the three of us.  Last year, we had our own party with some ice cream sundaes and a few of our friends.  This year, we were not organized enough to plan a party.  We opted, instead, for a quiet evening at Barnes and Noble where we perused the children’s section, bought a few algebra workbooks for my oldest daughter, and then ended our evening with frappuccinos at the B & N café.  

I rarely get time with just my boys so it was a nice opportunity to spend a little time with them.   We didn’t talk of anything special.  They tried to convince me to allow them to watch a movie when we got home but I said no.  Then, we talked a little about the amazing variety of terrible books on the shelves of the store (how many vampire stories does the world really need?)   My 7 year old was thrilled with the huge selection of Magic Tree House Books.  He was not quite sure what his brother and I meant about the store not having much worth reading.  With such an array of his beloved Jack and Annie stories, he didn’t care if every other book in the store was about vampires and not on the mommy approved reading list!

Just a nice, uneventful, quiet evening for the boys and I.  Now I am anxious to hear how the dance went….. not so quiet I bet!  :)

Precious memories-- part 2

Yesterday, I wrote about the precious memories I have from when my first baby really was a baby still.  Then I started thinking about how every day I am making precious memories with my children.  I don’t always see it in the moment but every day with my children is a gift and a blessing.  

In ten years, when I look back to this little window of time, I suspect I will feel about it, the same way I feel about those quiet, simple days when I had only one child and lots of time to spend with her.  

These days, my life is much, much busier and my schedule is much, much crazier but it is all still precious.  These are the days I have all five of my children at home and I am home schooling multiple grades.  These are the days I drive my oldest to math co-op and my youngest to swim lessons (well not in January, but from April to September every Tuesday and Thursday) and referee fights over which kid gets to sit in which seat every single time we get in the van to go somewhere!  These are the days that I am a master at teaching second grade phonics and overseeing eighth grade Algebra 1, all with a toddler at my heels begging me to help her with her pre-school workbook or to play doll house with her.  

I can carry on five different conversations and field phone calls from every solicitor in town wanting to sell me something and make dinner for my family of seven- all at once.  I can fold laundry and read Dr. Seuss and braid my daughter’s hair almost simultaneously.  There is something to be said for all that! 

Someday, I will not be so needed.   

And, I will miss all this.

This time with my kids is precious and this chapter in my life, like all chapters, is fleeting.  I am making precious memories with my kids every day.  I just pray God will help me to remember that the next time I am completely overwhelmed and want a minute- just ONE minute to myself.

Precious memories

When my oldest was my only and our days were spent enjoying life's littlest pleasures, "Little People" were a huge part of my life.  We had only one car back then and Tim needed it for school and work so my daughter and I were often stuck at home.  We had no money to spare and I had few friends in the area, having only lived in Florida for a year or so. 

So my toddler aged daughter was my only companion.  And, I was hers.   Life could not have been more simple.  But, the two of us always found ways to entertain ourselves.  We would bake homemade bread from scratch once or twice a week, we would walk to the dollar store down the street and look at all the cheap junk (that we could still not really afford), I would fill a bucket with water and would sit out in front of our townhouse and watch my little one play in it- happily occupied for at least a half hour. 

But, my daughter's all time favorite way to spend the long lonely quiet afternoons was with her Fisher Price Little People.   All day long I would hear, "Mommy, play people" and since there was time to fill, I would almost always sit down next to her and the two of us would play pretend with her little plastic people and their amazingly detailed plastic homes and businesses. 

There were days the loneliness got to me and I longed for adult friendships but for the most part we were very happy- my daughter and I. 

Eventually I got more involved at church and I made lots of new adult friends.  My daughter went to pre-school and made a few wonderful friends of her own. 

Our family grew. Tim graduated from school. We got a second car.  Life moved on.  We are now so, so far from the simple days of my first-born's toddlerhood, but there is something so precious in those early memories of my mothering.   And that little window of time- when life truly was simple and my child was my whole world, will always be some of the best days of my life.