Living with a mother who writes

Hundreds of years ago when my children were young and before computers had been invented - if the kids came in the front door and heard the typewriter clicking away - they knew there would be no food ready!!

Then with the arrival of silent computers, they actually had to come in the house and search for me..... and if they found me in front of the screen .......same story - no meal.

It's hard to be the children of a writer.
Vacations were taken at places which would provide good stories.
Photos of sites always look better with some 'action' so they all had to peer into / walk on top of / swing around / swim in whichever place we were visiting before they could go off and enjoy themselves.

They also knew they were likley to see themselves in the photos splattered over the travel pages of the newspaper, but that didn't matter because they never believed that anyone read what I wrote.

Anything they ever said was good fodder for fillers and letters. Once they got the hang of this they would come out with something cute and printable and then put their hand out for their commission.

My first sale to a real magazine was an article about losing ( or not) my weight after cihldbirth, so they've been providing me with material for my articles since they were born

Even now, many years on when they are parents themselves, they know the rules.
Any time they go anywhere unusual with their children they have to take photos and collect all the literature about the place.

And they regularly call me up and tell me stories about what their kids have been doing and saying.
Of course I'm interested because I'm their Bubby - but I'm also always on the look out for a good story.