Writing with kids

Finding time to write when there's kids under 10 in the house is brutal.  Finding time to do anything with kids under 10 in the house is a difficult chore, but writing is especially hard because you're stationary.  You have to just stay in one place and think.  My brain can't think with distractions buzzing around constantly.  If I was trying to do the dishes or the laundry or dust or something at least those things don't require much brain function.  You can kindof do those in your sleep, while tuning out the constant buzz of the hive.

So I do a lot of my writing at bedtime or in the early morning.  And since bedtime usually feels like the calm in the air after storming the beach at Normandy (not really, but its the worst analogy I can think of) I usually want to just lay down and not move again for 3 days.  So early morning usually becomes my writing time.

If I can get through an hour before getting ready for work, without falling back asleep, it's a great day.  And I feel great after I've accomplished it.  I love to write.  But I don't love getting up early...

If only there was a way to write by including the kids?  What if I told them what to write, and they were my official typists?  My errors might increase, but spellcheck will catch it.  Or I could do the opposite, and have them tell me what to write and I'll write that.  That's okay as long as I don't care about structure and form.

In the end, writing is not like baking cookies.  You can't let the kids crack a few eggs and it'll still turn out as yummy.  I see a lot of early nights in my future.

The world according to Keith Richards

This is what the future holds - surly teenagers with black eye liner

The Rolling Stones had a lot of insight into the human condition.  I'm not sure if that's surprising or not.  They had a lot of worldly experience I'm sure.  But it was not the clearest vision most of the time.  Let's just say they saw the world through a certain, self-induced fog half of their lives.  But nonetheless, they got a few things right.

For instance, take Sympathy for the Devil.  Actually, that's a bad example.  I don't have a lot of sympathy for the guy who killed the Kennedys.  But Jumping Jack Flash really is a gas, you know?....that might not be that great of an example either.  For the longest time I never knew what that was talking about, and now that I kindof understand it it's really not that great of a life metaphor.

Okay, so the Stones may not have hit the nail on the head every time, but they got it right once at least.  I tell my kids over and over - "Kids.  Mick Jagger says - "you can't always get what you want.  But if you try sometimes, you'll find that you get what you NEED."

This is an especially powerful line at the checkout counter, when they're asking for impulse buys of chips and binaca breath spray.  I swear if they put cans of dog food at that checkout aisle, my kids would ask "Dad, can I get this?"  I don't know how many times I've been asked to buy them hand sanitizer and carmex.  But then I'll belt out Mick's line (bonus points if I sing it in a raspy voice) and generally they stop.  It's mostly because now they're moaning for my to please stop for the love of all that's holy, clutching their ears and writhing on the floor in pain.  But hey, whatever works.

Now, to the lesson learned in all of this: It's okay to deprive your children.  In fact, you MUST deprive them.  I don't think I've ever met a kid who was given everything he ever wanted, and he came out to be just a naturally good person.  Any kid I see who is constantly given whatever he/she asks for usually is a complete "meany" (to use a mild, kid friendly phrase.  I had a few more colorful phrases up my sleeve, but I think you get the point.)

The country - NAY, the WORLD, is going downhill.  The reason is because more and more kids are being born with priviledge.  The way I grew up was not easy or rich - I was the kid with the hand me down clothes and just a few presents for Christmas.  But I never had to go without.  100 years ago the way I grew up would have been considered rich.  That's why the spoiled rich kids a century ago now would probably be considered the standard now.  We have everything we want.  And now we're passing that along to our kids.  And our kids are growing up into jerks.

Please, for the sake of the planet: tell your kids NO.  Tell them Mick sent you.  One day your Grandkids will thank you.  Wait a minute...what is "Brown Sugar" about again?  Those Rolling Stones are crazy.

Always look on the Bright Side of Life...

As crazy as it sounds, Monty Python often helps me through the day.  The context of that skit is unimportant (and possibly disturbing), but at some point a character sings "always look on the bright side of life..." and when things are getting me down I whistle that once in awhile.

We all have things that pump us up, I think.  I do at least.  Things we think of or remember to keep us motivated.  Keep us going.  It's like running or weight lifting.  There comes a point (for me it's about 4 miles, for fellow blooger Amanda over at THE WINK its apparently 6 miles, but I'm not being jealous or competitive or anything) :)

But at that point - the point where you want to slow down, or stop, or give up - you can repeat a mantra to yourself to keep pushing through.  Keep holding on.  Any other cliche' you want to add here.  It's just trying to trick your mind into being positive.  Don't think of anything else but that mantra.  I used to say to myself "take the pain, go for the gain."  Some people I've heard just chant one word, like "win" or "go" over and over.  Whatever works.

I have those for life as well.  Life hands out a few pretty vicious lemons once in awhile.  Another blogger, ApocalypticDad, feels my pain.  His story about CAR TROUBLE reminds me of my own.  And when those kinds of things get me down, I usually think of Monty Python or Jerry Maguire (one of the best Tom Cruise movies ever, if you've never seen it). 

Jerry had a mentor in the movie who would come on once in awhile and give sage advice.  Among these were my morning mantra "I love the morning!  I clap my hands and say, "Today is gonna be a great day!""  Gotta say that when it's 5 in the morning and cold and dark out.  Those covers are very comfy, very tempting.  Jerry helps me out of bed.

The other is "At the end of the day, I love my life, I love my wife, and I wish you my kind of success."
Gotta measure success on your own terms, and when life hands you lemon curve balls, remember what's important.  If you love your wife and kids, and they love you too - nothing else matters.  I wish for that kind of success.

Blog post - http://mredie.com - Post Turkey depression, Pre Holiday Lethargy, and how do I wake these sleeping kids?
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