So, here’s the deal. I have wanted to write a book since I was about 9. I filled composition books, notepads, scraps of paper, and even those thin as onion skin sheets of typing paper. I can still feel the pinch on my fingers as I jabbed too hard at the typewriter keys. Ahem…the typewriter was a manual one. And no I am not 80. But I did live in England back in the late 70s where the small appliance had not yet reached our corner of the world. I had never heard of microwaves, coffee makers, electric alarm clocks, or automatic typewriters back then.
My grandmother, with whom we lived, did have an electric washing machine, but in order to run the washer you had to attach a hose to the kitchen fawcet. That thing was loud and moved around the kitchen for the length of the cycle. My grandmother would have to hold on to the machine so that the hose didn’t disconnect and spill water all over the kitchen floor. Can you imagine how arduous wash day was? But back to writing a book.
My mother’s old manual typewriter was all I had. I used that typewriter to write a story of two kids who traveled the world and had adventures. One of the kids…the boy in the story…was me. The kids’ lives in my “book” mirrored my life. I was born in the UK, moved to the US at age 4, returned to the UK briefly when I was 7, returned to the US until I was in 4th grade, before it was back to the UK for the rest of 4th grade and all of 5th grade, and then back to the US for 6th grade. But, not all of 6th grade as I returned to England to finish out the school year. Nutty parenting decision?! My family also lived in Italy later on when I was in high school, but at least then only my dad lived in Italy while we visited on school vacations and long weekends. Can you say nomadic?
Anyway, so my hopes of writing a book are still alive although I am doing nothing to further my dreams. I write and write on this blog. In fact I post all over the place it seems. I post over at the new The DC Moms site about raising kids in DC. I write on Oysters Locals Blog about Lego, cupcakes, and food trucks. I write about all things Baltimore when it comes to parenting and…surviving parenting tweens. Writing about tweens works as I have a former tween, a present tween, and a up-and-coming tween, so you can catch me over at TypeAParent, too. As a blogger/writer living about the same distance from DC as Baltimore, I stick to my close-to-home, hyperlocal roots at Ellicott City’s Patch site.
But, no book is on the horizon…no book from me that is. I am in a book. The next best thing, right?! The book in question is an ebook from my favorite site for busy moms and dads who love to give back to their children’s schools through volunteering. VolunteerSpot provides an online hub site for coordinating sign ups for volunteering in the classroom, class parties, and of course schoolwide events. Last year I would not have kept track of when I was supposed to volunteer if not for VolunteerSpot.
I was asked to give my opinion on class parties for a very helpful, packed with tips and resources ebook from VolunteerSpot. I didn’t have to be asked twice. As a mom who has had a kid in a school since 1999 I know I can speak about class parties. Interestingly enough I have never been a room mom or had anything to do with planning a class party. I’m the go-to person to provide juice bags, snacks, or volunteer on the day of the party. But, I leave the planning to the uber-creative types.
Want to learn more about VolunteerSpot? Features and Benefits?
Check out the superb selection of ebooks here.
Like VolunteerSpot on Facebook. Follow VolunteerSpot on Twitter.
