Matthew woke up on the right side of the bed yesterday. I was putting away clean clothes in his room (yes, a miracle in and of itself) while he woke up. The first thing he said to me was, “Thanks Mom, for doing my laundry. You should get a sticker for that. Good job!” Man, if only all days started out that well. (It is a little sad though that my three-year-old recognizes what an accomplishment it is for me to actually get the clean clothes put away). Then a little bit later, I braced myself for a battle. Getting Matthew to go potty before breakfast is often a fight. When I asked him to go use the potty, he went right away with no complaints. I told him that he did a great job, and we’d have to put a sticker on his chart, to which he replied, “Nah, I don’t need a sticker. Going potty is a stinky job.” I laughed and said, “Matthew! You’re so funny!” And he said, “Yeah, I am, huh?” Love that kid.

I’ve not done quite as much writing this week since I’ve been getting ready for music class. Our new theme is “Silly Songs” which I’m really excited about. “Silly” is quite a broad concept and open for interpretation, so there’s no end to the songs and ideas. It’s great that I have a built in test-audience. I sing the stuff to Matthew or show him the books that I’m thinking about using, and he’s very honest about what’s good and what’s gotta go. His personal favorite is an extremely silly song sung to the tune of “God Bless America.” It goes a little something like this, “God Bless my Underwear. My only pair.
Stand beside them, And guide them, As they sit in a heap by the chair. From the washer,
To the clothesline, To my dresser drawer, To my rear! God, bless my underwear, My only pair. God, bless my underwear, Or I'll be bare.” It’s a truly moving hymn. The moms will surely appreciate the quality music that I’m teaching to their children.

When I haven’t been researching songs about underwear, I’ve spent some of my “me time” researching and reading on the world of writing. A friend loaned me about eight books on the subject of writing for kids (titles like: So, you want to be a children’s author? and The Everything Book to Publishing Kids Books, How to write for Kids, Why would you be a writer?, Are you a crazy person?, How to make no money, You want to be an author? Don’t do it unless you LOVE rejection). OK, I may be making up some of those titles up, but you get the point. I never said that I was going to become a writer in order to get published and make money (I shan’t deny, however, that this is a part of the dream though). And it’s not like I’m going to “quit my day job” to start in on my prestigious writing career. If anything, these books painted a picture of how hard it is to actually get published and they totally discouraged me. So, what did I do? I got writer’s panic and writer’s block before I even started writing.

Instead of writing, I’ve spent my time reading about writing and how hard it is. I’ve asked myself, “OK. I want to write. I think I’m a pretty decent writer, but what should I write? There are so many possibilities: Childrens’ literature, chic lit, mommy lit, my memoirs, spiritually-moving-change-peoples’-lives lit, soft porn-grocery-store romance lit…” Now this last one is an intriguing thought. I know that I don’t have it in me to write things like “heaving bosom” and “burning loins” while keeping a straight face. And I’d never be able to look my parents (or many people) in the face again. I’d have to come up with a pen name – something sassy like Genevieve Martinez.

Not that I’m serious about writing for the Harlequin market, but it’s a funny thought. Mike and I are going to be interviewed on the local Catholic radio station (Sacred Heart Radio) on May 21^st. We’ll be talking about Engaged Encounter on a program called, “Conversations with Father Bob.” Yep, we’ll have 28 minutes of radio fame. During this interview with a priest, I’ll have to somehow restrain myself from hogging the mic from Mike, remember that we’re there to discuss Engaged Encounter and not me, myself and I – though I would make for a fascinating radio show topic – and I have to REALLY fight the urge to use the opportunity to launch my singing career…or my budding career as a writer. I can just see it now, Father Bob, “So, Jenny, what do you do?” Me: “I’m an award winning author.” “Oh, that’s great! Have you written anything I might have read?” “Uh, well, have you read Naughty Nights in Newcastle? Or The Mommy Mistress?”

Yeah, supermarket romance? Definitely out.