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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today, a guest post from Dallas Louis, author and public speaker, who recently released The Mommy Diaries: How I’m Surviving Parenting Without Killing Anyone”>The Mommy Diaries, Dallas walks readers through her most embarrassing moments and some of her more bizarre trips to the emergency room. She also sheds light on the husband/wife dynamic and the twists and turns a marriage takes when kids (and household projects) enter the mix. Here are a few of her Cringe-Worthy Mom Moments:
We are trying to teach our kids the importance of reverence, or at least that there is a time and a place of be loud, and a time and a place to be quiet. Church is a time to be quiet. I thought we had communicated that to them fairly well, but I was wrong. During Communion one Sunday, my oldest son took the bulletin, wadded it into a ball, and launched it across the Sanctuary. I came unhinged. When I finally calmed down enough to ask, “What in the world were you thinking?” his reply was, “Mom. It’s church. I couldn’t yell, and there’s a note on it for Jody.”
We all know that siblings don’t always get along. Once, during the final moments of a photo shoot for our family, our oldest son who was three at the time gave his little sister a really good shove right between the shoulder blades. She was completely unprepared for this surprise attack and landed face down, letting out a blood-curdling scream that echoed through the entire building. Both of her eyes immediately started to turn black and blue. My husband and I were in complete shock. When asked why he had done this, my son said, “Well, I was trying to kill her.” Terrific.
The Top Dog of Cringe-Worthy Mom Moments is as follows: several years ago we took the kids to Disney World and stood in line forever to see the Disney princesses. Our youngest son was two at the time – a round, little, blonde, blue-eyed sweet angel (or so he appeared). He did well with two out of the three princesses, but it was that third one that got us. Cinderella happened to be the final princess of our royal encounter, and also my two-year-old’s favorite. When she bent down to hug him, he ran forward to grab her. In short, there was a massive collision that ended with Cinderella on her back, my child wrapped around her neck, her dress up almost over her head, and her princess secret-service detail screaming into their head-sets, “PRINCESS DOWN! WE HAVE A PRINCESS DOWN!” My husband and I just stood there. There was nothing we could do. No one could untangle our little one from her, so they picked them both up at once. That quickly ended our session with the princesses.
Journal Entry: Describe three of your cringe-worthy moments. Include details about the setting, the people, your response, and the responses of those around you.