Knot Mine?

Writing and parenting.
It's like sticking a monster knot under a 
magnifying glass.

I see the glowy summer threads: road trip, 

happy cousins,

ice cream shop,


book binges, 

lightning storm pajama party.



Those snaggled inky threads are my
writing huddles,
snatches of corner-swept minutes,
scratches of manuscripts
sent and re-sent.
 
The loopy jumble is the rest:
Dust. Dirt. Chaos.
Wadded-up socks.
"Don't spit on your sister."
Fingerprinty windows.
"Don't chew your shoes."


I have no idea how to bring my crazy,
wordy, artsy, noisy,
kid-rich world into balance,
how to un-tug this muddle of snarled thread.

 
And then... I look at it without the magnifying glass
and it almost makes sense...
 
like a tapestry I've been studying on the wrong side,
or paint daubs too, too close.

Sometimes our knots are holding things together.
Sometimes the knots are the balance.

This life,
this funny, dirty,
lovely shambles is mine.
Every minute of it.

Whether published or not,
well-groomed
or a bit tattered on the edges.


So here's my advice, writer mamas and papas.
Put the magnifying glass down.

Don't worry about the peanut butter smudges or the dog hair
or the piles of paper.
Write on.
Enjoy the burnt toast and the sacred dirt.
Write on, busy bees.
Write on.
This is the good life.

Our summer road trip books:

Ramona the Brave - Beverly Cleary
Ellen Tebbits - Beverly Cleary
Toot and Puddle - Holly Hobbie
Journeycake Ho! - Ruth Sawyer, illustrated by Robert McCloskey
Fast Food - Saxton Freymann, Joost Elffers
The Magic Half -Annie Barrows, illustrated by
The Diamond of Drury Lane - Julia Golding
Mercy Watson to the Rescue - Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen


Check out some rich words on summer writing and parenting over at Words A Day blog.