Children Secretly planning to sabatoge...

I don't know how Emma knows when I need to finish an important deadline, but she has amazing intuition. She senses when I have to do a project, whether it be unpacking a box, organizing a closet, working on a children's story, or writing a paper for school.

Friday afternoon Emma nearly skipped her second nap by only taking 30 minutes. Then she refused to sleep until 11pm and slept peacefully in John's arm until 12 am. 1 hour. From 1 am to 3 am she refused to sleep. At 3 am she promptly fell asleep and was quiet until 7 am. 4 hours of sleep versus her normal 10 hours. Then she took a 30 minute nap this morning instead her usual 1 1/2 hours. So all in all, since yesterday afternoon, she has had 5 hours of sleep in the last 18 hours instead of her usual 13 hours.

It's because she knows I am working on a deadline. Maybe she secretly knows that I am working really hard on getting a few articles written and want to send them out this week. Maybe she's the one who unpluggd my Iphone and tossed it in the wash.

Or maybe she's cutting a tooth. After all, she's not even a year old!

Children teach us

Gabi: Mom, what's this made out of?

Me: Um.

Gabi: This part, Mom.

Me: A um. (think!)

Gabi: Should I eat it?

Me: No.

Gabi: Why not?

Me: (Screaming on the inside: because it's a dead cow!) Because I have something better-here's an apple.

Phew. Crisis averted. Why? Because I live with a MEAT EATER who wants his children to be MEAT EATERS!

I could just tell my son the truth that he's eating the flesh of a beautiful cow, but he is only 4.  I don't want to scar him.

What defines a picture book?

I blog. I can't get away from this newly found habit. I suppose it's like owning a car. I could pretend that this modern mode of transportation will only be used in emergency situations, but then I end up using it more and more on a daily basis. I suppose that to an extent, it's a great outlet for a writer to express obscure viewpoints.

For example, I stumbled upon Mark Fearing's website. I have no idea who this person is as I really didn't bother to research into him. I don't have the time right now. Between having a moment of peace from having my son do somersaults on my bed and my other two "kids" off at soccer practice, I really should be working on my submission for the upcoming SCBWI conference.

I was working on it, but became concerned that I might be putting too much into my first story of my new series. I know that picture books are limited in how many words should be used; I couldn't remember what the recommend amount of words were; I wasn't about to start counting Marc Brown's Arthur or pull out a Stephen Kellogg's book and count words! So what's the second best way to find information? The internet, of course...granted, depending on what source I use.

Maybe Mark Fearing knows what he's talking about...maybe not, but by the time I got to the bottom of his blog account, I just couldn't resist making a comment! After all, this is my conclusion as to why blogs are so popular. It gives the ordinary reader, like me, to make a comment. Traditionally, we had to write to our paper's editor and pray that our letter was published when we made a comment about a recent article. Now we can skip this step and for the most part, make a comment directly to the writer; most of the time our comments are uncensored.

You can skip reading my comment if you are already bored. Besides, I have to go around the house and repair the damages my son has caused since the last time I stopped writing; we had Molly Maids come and clean this week as I'm a terrible housekeeper while I battle morning sickness. Granted, ten minutes after they leave, my small tornado called "son" goes about and rearranges everything. Fortunately, he's not able to drag in the pound of dirt they clean up...not right away at least. Give him a few minutes and maybe he can. He's like any one of the boys in Family Circus...or that guy in Charlie Brown that's a dust tornado. Ah, I love him so!

Here's my comment to dear Mark Fearing. He seems to have quite a few websites going at the same time. Maybe he has ADD. Cool!

"Do you have children? I'm a parent and a writer; I see both sides. There's a bit more mix between books, television shows, and video games, but most educated parents are still relying heavily on books to educate and entertain their children. I agree with your blog that it's an ever changing world in regards to picture books. Twenty years ago when I first began researching the market, picture books were classified as having few words and relied mainly on the pictures telling the stories. And yet, there were books that didn't fit this typical classification such as the Berenstain Bears and Marc Brown's classic Arthur books. Nowadays bookstores are piled high with 'picture books' that are cluttered with gimmicks such as stickers, puzzles, and stuffed animals. As an illustrator and writer, I have to see this mix media as a blessing; it actually opens our world up rather than creating a black hole. There are many new opportunities to reach children."

Born in the wrong century

I am quite the perfectionist. I edit my stories more than I probably should. Well, no more!
What's the worst that can happen?
Die because I made a spelling error? A wrong choice in punctuation? Too shallow in character? Too dry in plot? Too wordy? Too much dialogue? Not enough action? Augh!!!!! I think that maybe all this research about how to write a good children's story is sometimes my stumbling block. I've made a perfectionist speed bump for me to hit every time. This speed bump has a name, of course.
"Me."
Did I believe myself for a second? Well, I guess I did even though I did get up and give Rory water (and tell her I love her more than Daddy does--he's been telling her all night that I want to make her into glue! He should talk; I'm the vegetarian in the family! How do we really know that hamburger meat is made out of cow and not dog??)

I just think I was born in the wrong time period.
I live in a day of bloggers, of people who have too much to say about everything and sometimes it clutters my mind, thinking about how many readers there are versus writers. I believe it's probably 1 to 5, readers being in the minority.
Granted, I'm writing for children...but just as my research has shown me, I'm not, really.
I'm writing for the editor who reads my manuscript.
I'm writing for the publisher who wants to see the bottom line.
I'm writing for the research group who wants to see a new fiction artist.
And ultimately, I hope to write for the child.
Hopefully, I didn't lose that part of my talent while I got all wrapped up in research.

I hear a clock ticking in the background. It's an imaginary clock but I hear it nevertheless.


Did I mention that when I'm nervous I get nauseous? Butterflies with elephant feet flip in my stomach!