Sometimes Addie is so funny and sometimes . . not so funny.
Every night when she goes to bed, she and I have a little talk and I try to get important messages to her without saying “Listen! You need to do this!”
One night I showed her pictures of horrible teeth and told her that’s what happens when you don’t brush your teeth and we talked about the importance of brushing and flossing. I told her I was going to frame a picture of someone with horrible teeth so she could put it by her bed and if she gets in bed, and hasn’t brushed her teeth, she’ll see what she can look like as an adult!
Sometimes, my point is expressed in a bit more subtle terms.
Last night, it was already late when she went to bed so I was trying to rush through it but it was my last night with her for a while so I wanted to get my topic covered. My plan was to talk about “you can be and do anything you set your mind to” and that’s a topic I try to cover often.
Last night I was telling her about when I submitted my first book proposal. Some of you have already heard this story but, when I did it, I didn’t tell anyone I was doing it . . not even Vince, so that if they rejected my proposal, I didn’t have to tell anyone I had failed. The day the approval letter arrived, Vince was home for work. I was so excited and said “They accepted my book proposal” and he had no idea what I was talking about.
So . . Addie and I had this conversation. I told her that part of the story and my point was . . if you have something you want to try but aren’t sure how it’s going to go, do it and don’t tell the world til you know it’s going to all work out.
I told her the story about my book being accepted.
She jumped out of bed, had her hand on her hip and this is how it went. It was so hard for me not to laugh.
Addie: Wait! You have stuff in magazines but now you’re telling me you wrote a book? A REAL book?
Me: Yes.
Addie: Then it should be on Amazon.
She grabbed her tablet on the side of the bed, went to Amazon’s web page, typed Judy, had to ask me how to spell the last name. After a few letters it popped up. There was my picture. She was shocked.
Addie: Well, if you wrote a book, you should have it her. Where is it?
Me: In the sewing room.
She got back out of bed.
Addie: Let me see it.
We went into the sewing room and I got the books out.
She just couldn’t believe it!
We went back in the bedroom. She got back in bed, then reached over and grabbed her tablet.
Addie: I’m writing a book.
She opened a Google do and started typing.
Me: What is your book going to be about?
Addie: I don’t want to write a fiction book. I want it to be true. I think I’ll write about carnivals. No! I’m going to write about Silver Dollar City but I haven’t ridden every ride there yet. I know . . I’ll write about Christmas.
Then she came up with the idea that she would write one sentence. I would write the next sentence. We did that for a while.
It got to be midnight. We had four pages written. I told her “We have to stop. I have to go to bed!” She said “You just go ahead. I’m going to stay up and finish writing my book.” I told her she couldn’t finish it. She had to turn the computer off, give it to me and go to sleep. I’m not sure how long thoughts ran through her head before she went to sleep.
It’s almost 10 a.m. and she’s still sleeping. Wish I could have done that this morning.
Whether or not she finishes her book, I think the little incident last night has given her a joy for writing and she’s learning more how to develop ideas from the thoughts that run through her head.
Every night she is here, we have those kinds of conversations. Some nights I go to bed feeling like she’ll never think about what we talked about again. Last night was one of the best conversations we’ve had.
justquiltin says
She now realizes her Granny is FAMOUS! I do like the analogy that if you wrote a book it MUST be on Amazon. What great conversations you have.
Cindy F says
Oh my!! What a great time there with that conversation. I just can’t imagine the impression you put into her. I think that will stay with her and she will look back on it later in life, especially if she continues to write.
Teri says
Love this! Merry Christmas to you Judy and Vince and Chad, Nicole & Addie. And Rita and Boots too!
Pat Anderson says
I think this is one of the perks of being a grandparent…hopefully, teaching them things that maybe their parents haven’t had the time or even the thought of teaching them. We certainly try to do that with our grands, too. Sometimes it seems as if it is all for naught, but we hope that some of it sticks! Merry Christmas!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Exactly how I think. Sometimes it seems worth it and sometimes I wonder if it’s a waste of time.
Tricia says
You should give these little ‘bedside chats’ to all of us out here in Blogland who didn’t have moms and grandmas who did that for us! Share some of that down-home ‘Judy wisdom’ (kind of like Vince’s wisdom, but without all of the sarcasm!).
Bon says
Those conversations will be some of her favorite memories as she becomes an adult and looks back at times with Grandma.
Laura Haynes says
Or, these topics could turn into another book (if you don’t give away all the ideas online to us & others). “Life’s important lessons in one-on-one discussions between GramMa/GramPa and grandchildren”, or some other title:)
You won’t find them on Amazon, or anywhere on the internet. But my adult children have seen the four books on the shelf that I helped type, edit and self-publish. My grandchildren will have copies eventually. All because a beloved much older friend (like a father) wanted to publish a daily devotional book. His children convinced him to instead write his unusual life experiences. He had the stories, but needed help. The Lord led me to research self-publishing. Then to a writer’s conference, and a conversation with a book agent. It was a wonderful experience honoring the amazing events in our friend’s life. That was followed with tutoring another friend in publishing three books.
Accomplished because we first attempted it.