Shh! Don't Tell My Kids.

     I never lived in a Mayberry RFD or on a Little House on the Praire. When I was growing up, our lack of quality or quantity of T.V. made us creative capable kids. Playing outdoors until the street lights flickered on, we dragged ourselves indoors. We begged our Mom, "Do we have to come inside?" With our hair tangled with dead leaves, faces covered in dirt, and hands full of stray animals, we would have stayed outside and played all night!
    
     I'm so thankful my boys have stayed so innocent in so many ways for so long. I love their carefree attitude about life, What's for dinner? Can so & so come over? How can I make money? Is my brother adopted?  If he says that one more time I'm gonna punch him in the face. With my whistle and black and white striped shirt, I play referee on all days ending in y.
    
     These days little tweenie-bopper girls (& even younger kids like 7 or 8 years old!) wear Justin B t-shirts and chat with friends about which boy they like...today. I'm seriously not that old, but when I was in ninth grade, I discovered boys existed. You can stop laughing now. Until I turned 13 or 14, I didn't know boys existed
    
      Today, kids need to be kids and boys just need to be boys. They need time to play, hike, participate in sports, beat each other up. Just kidding on that last one. So, I watch and observe children, especially my own. They have the greatest real life scenarios and friendships. Secretly, I write down snippets of their conversations and interactions between them and their friends. My observations have now turned into a full length middle-grade fiction novel. Oh, my! Just wait 'til they find out.