How is it the middle of September already?

 Dear Reader,

I have no idea how it is the middle of September. I could have sworn that it was still August last week. I'm operating on the edge of burnout right now. As I review book five of the Umbrel Chronicle series, I am just staring at the pages in exhaustion. Times like now, it'd be real handy to have an editor I could tap for a few hours to trouble shoot this stuff. 

My youngest child has decided that he's going to be an author like me. Over the summer, I taught him about outlines and how they work to make writing your story easier. He's still on the fence about the idea but he put together a pretty good story for his brother's birthday. We were going to use Lulu.com to self-publish it as a picture book but he kept getting distracted from making the pictures for the book. I'm saving the story, however. He has his own file box full of story ideas and notebooks that he's filling up with pictures and snippets of stories.

It's like watching a younger version of myself at work. This is going to be interesting as he gets going in English class at school. Either he is going to do very well and make great strides because of his enthusiasim, or he's going to get frustrated because the assignment limitations keep him from writing what he wants. Beloved (my husband) was the second kind of student. Even as I type this, he is in his room writing when he should be putting toys away.

The real trick here is going to be helping him with his handwriting and correcting his grammar. He gets excited and his handwriting degrades to an illegible scrawl. I have absolutely no idea where he gets that from. *wink* I really hope we don't have to do flashcards. I hated flashcards as a kid. They felt pointless and stupid. I learned more from working with the language than I did from just memorizing how to spell words and meanings. That's what dictionaries are for, am I right?

The kids are back in school with all safety protocols in place and social distancing. So far, they've reported that they have no homework. I'm a little suspicious but this is the first week of school. I have spent my mornings just stumbling around with my cup of coffee and trying to make headway into research I am doing for a religious text that I'm working on. This business of getting up at 5:45am IS NOT my friend. But, the kids bounce out the door and have made it to the bus on time every day this week with all of their supplies. I have even remembered to pack lunches for every body. So, maybe there's hope for me after all.