Also, a little plug. I'm going to be starting another Collaboration Challenge story on June 5th. This is where a group of writers work over a couple of weeks to collaborate a story. Only, this story isn't planned out in any way. Each writer picks their week, then writes their part based on what has come before and posts it on their personal blogs. Each portion of the story is posted on Thursday and all linked together until the last writer wraps it up.
You can read the results of the first Collaboration Challenge, Kalli's story. I will be posting Riley's story in full on Thursday, but until then you can blog hop your way from this post.
If you would like to join in, or are curious about what's going on, let me know over here or on Google+.
And now, onto the Snapshot.
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The Perfect Not Day
"Mama, can we go to the pool today?" Robbie asked, stick-thin legs pushing his tricycle back and forth. Bethany sighed, thinking of all the chores to be done around the house, not to mention the end-of-the-month money drought.
"Not today, my lovely," she told her son, pinning up the last length of sheet to the clothesline."But I want to play in the water. How about the sprinkler?"
"Not with my clean clothes hanging." Not with the price of water.
"Mama, I don't want it to be a Not Day," Robbie sulked, leaning forward so his chin rested on the axis of his plastic handle bars.
Bethany closed her eyes. She didn't want it to be a Not Day, either. A smile curled her thin lips.
"Close your eyes, Robbie."
"Why?"
"Because you can hear it then." She peaked to see Robbie close his eyes, his face wrinkled in concentration. "You can hear the wind filling the sails of a big, big ship. It's out in the middle of the ocean and all you can see is water, water, water."
"Wow!" Robbie said, the only thing wider than his eyes was his grin. "Is it a pirate ship, Mommy?"
"You bet it is," Bethany told him. "It's the Pirate Flea Beard's ship. There's no task to big for his crew."
"'Like digging treasure!" Robbie shouted, abandoning his seat to jump up and down.
"Exactly," Bethany agreed. "Pirate Flea Beard of legend always gets his treasure, even when he's stealing it from other pirates!"
Bethany grabbed two long sticks from the brush pile, giving one to Robbie. "You will not get my gold, Flea Beard!" she yelled at him, clashing her sword with his.
"Oh, yes, I will!" Robbie's voice was squeaky with excitement, his laughter drowning out the clatter of the sticks against each other. They battled for a few minutes until Bethany fell to her knees in the crunchy grass, falling to her side.
"Alright, Flea Beard. You win this time, but next time you won't be so lucky."
Robbie giggled, throwing his stick down and launching his little body at Bethany, knocking her the rest of the way to the ground.
"Next time, Mommy, we'll both be Flea Beard," he declared.
"Okay," she agreed with a sigh. Dishes still had to be done, floors cleaned, a non-existent budget needed to be balanced. But right now, she just wanted to hang on to her moment of perfect.
This is so heartwarming. I can almost imagine mother and son playing and hugging. You're right. Amidst the many things that need to be done, a "moment of perfect" makes everything all right.
ReplyDeleteI catch myself telling my son 'maybe' or 'later' so often. It's a learning curve with kids, remembering you can't do everything in one solid block like you did before them. I hope I'm starting to get the hang of it, with my oldest being 3. :)
DeleteAwww, how adorable. How many mom's out there get so caught up in chores or day to day adult things they forget the most simplest easiest way to create fun, without costing a cent. Kids at that age really get into their imaginations too. I'm so glad she saw it as a "perfect moment" I worked in a nursery for a year, it was one of the best jobs because I got to play imagination all the time with the kids. I was surprised by how many moms just aren't able to go there.
ReplyDeleteAt least in my case, not being able playing pretend is due to pure exhaustion. On the positive side, books are great. They really take minimal effort and my son will sit and listen to them forever.
DeleteLoved it! Telling kids what they can't have is something most of us have done (or continue to do...) and it's never easy. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThank you. I've been making an effort finding things to do, rather than things to say no to, with my son so it was a natural theme for this week's story.
DeleteThis is so sweet!! I can't believe I missed this! So touching and so perfect. I love the scene she invented for him to help take him away!
ReplyDeleteYou probably wouldn't have missed it if I'd remembered to link it up. :P I didn't even realize I'd forgotten until putting the prompt post together last night.
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