Slice of Life: Writing like a 9 year old...

Slicers.  I'm at the table tonight with my 9 year old.  He's been given a writing assignment.  I'm watching him write, and I'm learning he writes like me. 

Talk about it a bit.

Get up and see what the dog is doing.

Change the music.

Talk to the family.

Write a little.

I thought for sure I would write an earth shattering slice while he did his assignment.  But I was stuck.  And as I'm watching him write, I thought, "I need to try this assignment."  It's good for me to put myself in his shoes.  

The directions:  Roll a dice to determine the setting, character, and plot.  Write freely for 15 minutes.  (I'm already wide-eyed because I'm looking at this outline below.  What?!?!?!)

Setting:  A sail boat at noon.
Character:  A talking gorilla
Plot:  Going to a country Western Concert. 

A Midwestern Kerfluffle
In the floods of the summer before I turned 40, I took my sail boat at noon down to the local taco stand to hang out with my friends. 

(Side bar:  my family is with me.  Country Western music is already blaring through my kitchen.  We also have sing alongs when we write.)

As I slid up to the bar, I noted that a Gorilla was behind the bar with a western hat ready to take my order.  

I ordered my spicy shrimp tacos (crispy, not fried) and a beer-because hey, It's 5 O'clock Somewhere.  (Now we're discussing how we can see Jimmy Buffet this summer.)

"Everything to your liking, Miss?"  asked the Gorilla.

"Why, yes, it is!"  I responded, chewing with my mouth slightly too full.

"I happen to have these three tickets to the Jimmy Buffet/Eagles concert.  200 dollars total."  

"Oh My!" I exclaimed.  "I can take my sister and my Auntie with me!"  

"I aim to please," shared the Gorilla.

I scarfed down my tacos and beer and ran to call my sister.  We broke into a refrain of "Margaritaville."  There was peace on earth.  The teacher, and the sister, and the Auntie lived happily ever after, even though the concert wasn't completely Country-Western.  Because hey.  Even though we live in Iowa, we don't always want to do that.  

The End.

What I've learned:  

I need to write with my family more.

We all need to be writing our assignments that we give our students.

(This was a good reminder for me.)

A little creative writing isn't a bad thing.  I hardly ever do it.

(See Exhibit A above for my reasons why.)

Do you write all your assignments?  

Joy!
Kendra