Category: Anecdote (Page 13 of 31)

A Quiet Moment of Playing Together

May 22, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

I posted this today on Observation Mommy (my Tumblr page), but I thought it warranted a post here as well. (Because you all like having updates on the kiddos occasionally, right?)

Almost a year since The Prince was born, there is still a lot of lingering resentment from The Boy. I get it; his whole world changed and now he has to share Mommy and Daddy, and his toys.

Growing up, my relationships with my four siblings was one of the best things in my young life. Sure we fought, sometimes a lot, but we were always there for each other. And as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned how to be better friends with each of my siblings. So I’ve always wanted that for my boys, and was beginning to doubt it was going to happen.

The Prince, of course, loves his older brother, idolizes him. But The Boy has mostly shown annoyance and barely tolerates The Prince. There’s been the rare hug or kiss or concern when The Prince is crying, but not as much as I was hoping for.

Then, the other day the hubby witnessed them playing together with cars The Boy had willingly, with no prompting shared. It lasted about five minutes before a fight, but it was a start. And then yesterday, The Prince reached into The Boy’s car case (where all the fun rescue vehicles are kept) and The Boy didn’t yell. In fact, he said to his little brother, “You can play with that,” and proceeded to give me a selection (of his non-favorite) rescues to play with.

I was one happy mama! There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and I think we may be reaching the end. I’m not expecting peace all the time (or even most of the time), but at least now I know it is a possibility.

Books Are Not Precious

April 6, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

I never highlight, make notes, or otherwise intentionally mark the pages of my books. Even when I was in college and purchased text books, I never like to take notes in the pages. Books are sacred, precious, not to be marred.

The Boy at about 9 months old, enjoying his favorite book/chew toy DOLLY DUCK.

The Boy at 9 months old, enjoying his favorite book/chew toy DOLLY DUCK.

Then I had kids. And if I’ve learned anything from my boys, it’s that my world view is often flawed and certainly not absolute. To kids and babies, books are more than the words and pictures in their pages. They are teethers, drums, they can be stacked to make a tower or stairs.

The Prince at 9 months old, chewing on his favorite book about Pinky the pig.

Not that I don’t discourage them from doing all these things; we try to teach the boys to take care of their belongings. But that doesn’t mean they revere books in the way I do. To them, books are not sacred or precious. They are for reading, of course. And we love reading them. But they are fun in other ways, too. And if that gives them a life-long love affair with books, then I’m all for it!

Never-Ending Winter 2015 in Pictures

March 13, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

There are still big snow piles outside, but the weather is warming and the earth is waking again in preparation for spring. Still won’t be getting those pea seeds planted on St. Patrick’s Day like most years, but I keep telling myself soon enough the garden will be full of flowers and veggies.

I was backing up a bunch of pictures yesterday, so I thought I’d share a picturesque look back on this winter (and also pictures are an easy post while I’m crazy busy trying to finish a first draft of BLACK BUTTERFLY and preparing for my workshops in April). We spent most of it indoors because of sub-freezing (often sub-zero) temperatures, frigid wind chills, and of course all that snow. Enjoy the cuteness!

The Very Inspiring Blogger Award

January 30, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

A very big thanks to Beverly Stowe McClure for nominating me for The Very Inspiring Blogger Award. Beverly is a force in the kidlit world with a slew of writing credits to her name and a generous soul. Make sure to check out her website and blog The Story of a Writer.

The rules for accepting this award are as follows:
1. Thank the person who nominated you, and link to their blog.
2. Display the award logo.
3. Nominate at least 15 other blogs (more or less) and provide a link where they may be found.
4. Then, go to their blog, leave a comment to let them know they have been nominated, and where to find the information they need to accept (rules).
5. Mention three things that inspired you the most during the past few weeks.

So here are the three things that have inspired me recently…

1. My kids…of course! Love those little guys. They are a constant reminder of all that is wonderful in the world: the way they think, the way they learn, the way they share, even the way they “fight.” (A fight between the boys usually entails The Boy yelling at The Prince for some nonexistence slight or rudeness–cause 7-month-olds are so rude, right–and The Prince, loving the attention from his older brother, breaks into a big two-tooth grin.) They’re still young enough to be impressed by their old mom, so I’m enjoying their enthusiasm while it lasts. Just yesterday when The Boy spotted the cover of my picture book, he said, “Oh, I love that one,” and insisted we read it. So, yeah, they keep me inspired in so many ways, even as they are tiring me out.

2. A group of students I have yet to meet. I’ve been putting the finishing touches on a school presentation for early February in conjunction with The Great Connecticut Caper. Among the group, are 7 students who submitted a story to the Caper’s first contest and won the author visit. Just thinking about the fun activities I have planned for them and thinking about the writing that will hopefully come out of it keeps me excited about my projects.

3. My writing group. I have a pretty awesome in-person critique group that I meet with once a month. The quality of the work coming from every single person in the group has reached such a level of excellence lately. We’ve really hit a groove. Not only do I look forward to reading their offerings every month, but knowing they are all waiting for the next installment in my WIP keeps me on track with my word count goals.

Okay, now it’s your turn. I’ve never been very good at nominating people for these blogger awards, so here’s five people I’ve come up with. And, if you’re a blogger and would like to be nominated and play along, just leave a comment and I’ll add you to the list. My nominees:

1. Kai Strand – Strands of Thought

2. Meradeth Houston – Write Stuff

3. Stuart R. West – Twisted Tales from Tornado Alley

4. Eric Price – Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Whatever Else Comes to Mind

5. Jeff Chapman – Jeff Chapman’s Writing

6. Comment to have your blog added here!

Happy Holidays From My Family to Yours

December 16, 2014 / Katie L. Carroll

It’s a busy time of year for everyone, and that’s no exception for this gal! Between the decorating, cookie making, and holiday activities, a minute of spare time is just not to be found.

This past weekend we took a holiday train ride with Santa (and other fun characters) on the Essex Steam Train. And tomorrow we’re taking The Boy on his first ever trip to NYC. So that means another train ride (this time on the train we see from the cafe all of the time), seeing the big tree at Rockefeller Center, and probably a trip to the toy store.

I’ve also got some really exciting things going on with the writing career, but I’ll be gabbing about all that in the New Year. If you’re local, don’t forget to check out the launch party for The Great Connecticut Caper at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford on January 7, 2015. The countdown has already begun for the first chapter release on January 4, 2015. The official site for reading the chapters as they release is http://ctcaper.cthumanities.org/.

I’ve got one last guest post scheduled for Thursday (a cover reveal!) and then I’ll be taking next week off from blogging for Christmas. The Observation Desk will be back strong in the New Year with lots of guest posts from The Great Connecticut Caper contributors and the usual writing, parenting, blathering posts from me. 😉

With that, I wish all of you a happy and healthy holiday season and New Year!