Writing about kids is a “must” for most memory collectors.
How many times have you recounted a story about your kids and received the response:
“You’ve got to write that one down!”
Well, go ahead and do it! Whether your journalling, scrapbooking, or writing your memories, write down some of your kids’ more memorable moments. Don’t forget to note the date and add photos when you can.
Writing about kids and their antics:
Don’t feel constrained to writing about your kids’ adorable moments only. Their antics can be much more articulate (and possibly more entertaining) than innumerable pages of descriptions of them.
The “Show, Don’t Tell” rule makes writing about kids easier. Though they do have their adorable moments, kids aren’t always adorable.
There’s no question that our kids can be, and in most cases have been, an embarrassment to us at one time or another. Only the truly virtuous among us haven’t held it over their heads.(I myself make sure my teenage sons are well aware that the tables are now turned and my capacity to humiliate them is much greater than theirs to humiliate me.) When writing about kids, be sure to include some of these moments. (Example: “Scientific Method to his Madness“?)
Sometimes your kids aren’t the only ones that play a starring role in these blackmail stories. You might even be telling on yourself, your uncle, your neighbor…
Messes and attempts to hide them:
Which was worse, the time they made the horrible mess, or the resulting chaos from trying to hide it? Who else was involved. My neighbor likes to point out that when her brother and son broke a vase while throwing a football in the house, at least her son had the good sense to run upstairs and hide under a bed.
Getting busted
When you’re writing about kids, include those times that their sneakiness back-fired on them. Who was more embarassed, you or your child? (I won’t bring up the episode of my son trying to sneak chocolate chips to his bedroom by holding them in his armpit.)
Childishly Honest Observations
The shows been off the air for decades, but kids are still saying the “darnedest things.” When your writing about kids, be sure to include the funny observations they’ve made. (Yes, it’s funny when they tell you it’s time to try “Nice and Easy.”)
Tricky Situations with Playmates or Neighbors
Did (or do) they have some notorious co-conspirators? Did their “car wash” turn into a blackmail scheme with neighbors paying the $2 not to wash their car? (It happened. ‘Nuff said.) When you’re writing about these incidents, write as if your telling the story to your best friend. Let your (and their) personality shine through.
Caveat:
Most of these stories are funny to all involved a couple of months or years after the event. If the subject of the story will be truly embarrassed or if the telling of it will damage your relationship with your child, skip it. There are plenty of other things to write about.
Start Writing: Try re-counting that embarrassing story involving the minister, the lost key to the city, or visiting business partner. Don’t hesitate to let your sense of humor shine through.
(c) Laura Hedgecock 2013