For Your Journal: Writing Prompt

Do you keep a journal – or wish you could get one started? Literary Mama wants to help.

Three times a month, I’ll post a writing prompt. Open a notebook and write for 10 minutes. Don’t worry about grammar or punctuation – just write. Then let the writing simmer and your mind wander for awhile.

And who knows? Maybe you’ll discover a character for your next short story or a theme for a narrative essay. Or maybe you’ll use the idea to create a special holiday card or photo album for someone in your family. However you decide to use your journal entry, I know you’ll enjoy re-reading it months–and years–down the road.

Also: Every three months, I’ll accept submissions and choose a few pieces to post for LM readers to enjoy.
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My basement is a mess, and it’s the preschool teacher’s fault.

She encouraged us to save toilet paper tubes, orange juice lids, and egg cartons for the classroom’s Art Area. I doubled my efforts when my kids asked to glue and paint at home, and now, our craft table is peppered with dried glue and glitter, the chairs speckled with yellow paint.

This same teacher also encouraged pretend play and dress up, so I collected shirts, ties, shoes, hats, and purses and in no time, filled a wicker storage basket with the items every princess, firefighter, and construction worker needs. And to foster coordination? An indoor basketball hoop and a variety of basketballs, soccer balls, footballs and bouncy balls that roll from one side of the room to the other.

So when my husband emerged from the basement one evening and asked who let the purple chicken–the one that had lost all its feathers–into the house, I was more intrigued than surprised.

“That’s not a chicken, daddy,” our five-year-old daughter explained. “That’s my boa. We played tug-of-war with it and shook it all around.”

I had a good picture of what had happened, but when I descended the steps, I discovered there was more. Not only was the carpet covered with hundreds of purple feathers, it was also sprinkled with white specks of ceiling tile.

“But Mom,” the boys explained, “we had to practice our soccer kicks. It’s too muddy outside, and we have a game on Saturday.”

Now how could I argue with logic like that?

Journal Entry: Describe a mess your child made. What was really at the bottom of the pile or glued to the chair? Did you see determination? Cooperation? Collaboration? Creativity?