How to Take Revenge On Three Older Sisters

First, pretend to go along with whatever plan they may hatch.

Yes, I believe those are stickers all over her body.

Then, do something a little unpredictable and funny to draw parental attention to yourself, which makes the sisters have to "clean up" whatever it was they were doing to you.

Find a baggie of cereal belonging to one of them and empty it out so that they get into trouble.  After all, there are only so many times that Mom and Dad will believe "it was the baby's fault."

Finally, make sure to grab the xbox remote any chance you can, and push all the buttons, causing instant mayhem and potential death to whatever characters are on the screen. This is ultimate payback.

The icing on the cake is to laugh about it. Always. And I mean always laugh.

It's hard to be mad at a smile like this.

Legacy

I used to think, what if I don’t get published? I faced this question a lot at one point. When I sat down to write, when I was laying in bed, or when I went grocery shopping with my family. 

Well, thankfully, now I have a publishing contract. So the new questions start (because this is how my mind works): What if no one wants my book? What if no one thinks I am a good writer?

As a father of four, I can already see a glimmer of my legacy in my oldest daughter, which can make my possible failure somewhat bearable. When she was in first grade, she wrote a story about a prince and princess that she created all her own. 

Some of the story

She and my second born also have notebooks that they draw and write in, creating stories with no help from me or my wife. The seeds that were there are being watered, and the ones that may not have been there, have been planted.

This got me thinking. What if my writing wasn’t for me? What if my desire to write was in me, so that I could pass it to my children? I am by no means rich in terms of money, so maybe that is their inheritance. They might be the completion of that dream, and writing may be one of the few things I will be able to pass on to them.

Blog Post Ideas, Thanks to the Children.

I was at a loss for blog post ideas, so I asked the kids what they thought should go on a blog post.  Here's what I got:

From Katie:  She wanted me to post about this "Silly Parade" that happened at our house this weekend.  The girls and their cousin walked around the house in silly garb and yelled out things like "Come and join us on our silly parade!  Welcome to the Silly Parade!" It was... inspiring.

Silly Parade picture

 From Annabelle: It was her 7th birthday this weekend, and so she wanted me to write about that.  "What specifically?" I asked. She wanted me to write about the gifts she received which was: Anna and Elsa dolls, a Lego set, a journal, a pair of boots, socks, an Olaf shirt, a handmade rabbit stuffed animal, and a small makeup kit. She also wanted to mention that she received a personalized makeup bag, a hairbrush, a Nerf Gun for girls, Money, a Target gift card, lip balm, candy and gum.  (Basically, she got a lot of gifts from family). She also suggested we talk about the games that she played: a candy hunt, apple bobbing, balloon races, and tag.

Happy Birthday, Annabelle.

From Caroline: She said that she likes to burp and tootle (A tootle is passing gas in our family. Girls don't fart, they tootle, according to my wife.). This was mostly said for the shock factor, so I don't really know what she actually would say, I think she just wanted a laugh. Which she got.

Getting a Laugh

From Emily: Nothing here. She doesn't really say words yet. However, she does cry a lot when her sisters pick her up, which they do a lot.  She doesn't like to be toted around like a sack of potatoes. She wants to do everything on her own (who doesn't?)

By herself (that's how she likes it.)