Some of you may have read my "day in the life" vignettes before, and I thank you for the positive reaction they have received. Because of the encouragement of hatrack, I've actually submitted something to a paying magazing market, and I'm working on several more pieces that will go out soon.

For this post, I decided to let you see how those begin. Every few days, I sit down and open a file in Word and just type whatever comes to my mind, usually just a few sentences about a happening or something I just thought about. Some of those become essays, some of them become poetry (which I'm terrible at!) and some of them go no further. Today, I'm going to give you a glimpse into the mind of Belle. I'm going to show you the five most recent rambling pieces I wrote down. So here goes:

• Children need validation. Almost as much as they do food, or air to breathe. When my two year old daughter kept pointing to the cat and saying “kitty cat” over and over unrelenting, I realized she wasn’t just practicing her vocabulary skills. She didn’t need me to tell her it was a kitty, she knew perfectly well it was. What she wanted was to say “Listen to me, acknowledge me, hear me. I know this word – tell me that you recognize my knowledge. Validate me – I’m a person.” And so, despite the inane repetitiveness, I smile and nod and say “yep, it’s a kitty cat” and watch her eyes sparkle.
  
• My husband is helping me do some research for a book project I want to tackle in 2003. The book will revolve around an archaeologist researching Biblical sites, so we have been immersing ourselves in Exodus. Last night he called me from the fire station to say that he was amazed at all the detail he was reading about, things he never remembered. His comment struck me – “I don’t remember Charlton Heston doing all this in the movie.” He meant it to be funny, but there is too much sad truth there. Too many people who get their news from Letterman or Leno and their history from Hollywood.
  
• My sister-in-law called me on the 23rd to ask me what I was bringing to our Christmas Eve celebration at my parent’s house. I told her I was making a chocolate cream rolled cake. She told me I couldn’t – that it was impossible to roll up a cake without it breaking apart. I told her it wasn’t impossible – hadn’t she seen them in bakeries? Her response was “But those are bakery people – people like you and me can’t do it.” I proved her wrong. I enjoyed that very much.
  
• My middle daughter has decided she is allergic to spaghetti. She swears that if she eats it she will die. Strangely – she will eat spaghetti noodles if they are sprinkled with parmesan cheese. And she will eat all the ingredients of spaghetti sauce if served another way. She loves ketchup. But, she’s allergic to spaghetti. Weird how that works.
  
• My new favorite song is by Michael Card, a Christian writer, songwriter and singer. No, I don’t know if he’s any relation to Uncle Orson or not. It’s called “The Sunrise of Your Smile” and he wrote it to his children. I just love the lyrics:

  Reject the worldly lie that says
  That life lies always up ahead
  Let power go before control
  Becomes a crust around your soul

  Escape the hunger to possess
  And soul-diminishing success
  This world is full of narrow lives
  I pray by grace your smile survives

  For I would wander weary miles
  Would welcome ridicule, my child
  To simply see the sunrise of your smile

  To see the light behind your eyes
  The happy thoughts that make you fly
  Yes I would wander weary miles
  I would wander weary miles
  To simply see the sunrise of your smile

  Now close your eyes so you can see
  Your own unfinished memories
  Now open them, for time is brief
  And you’ll be blessed beyond belief

  Now glance above you at the sky
  There’s beauty there to blind the eye
  I ask all this and wait a while
  To see the dawning of your smile

  For I would wander weary miles
  Would welcome ridicule, my child
  To simply see the sunrise of your smile

  To see the light behind your eyes
  The happy thoughts that make you fly
  Yes I would wander weary miles
  I would wander weary miles
  To simply see the sunrise of your smile

Thanks so much for sharing those with us! I'm glad your cake turned out so well.

And I like that song - very pretty. I haven't heard it, but I liked reading the lines. When I have children (in a couple years - no hurry!), I'll probably be asking for whatever help and insight you can give me! You certainly have a lot of experience.
 

You sound like a great parent.
 

And you get more and more beautiful every year you are here.
 

::needs to read more of Belle's writing::
 

That sounds SO good to me, a husband helping with research!
 

Happy 5000th! And good luck with the mags!
 

Her cake was good by the way!!
 

Love you , hon.
 

I especially like what you've said about children needing validation....my son says the same things over and over and over again, usually about a video game or pokemon, and it about makes me crazy. Now I have a better way of thinking about it. Thank you.
 

Happy 5000th. I wonder if I'll ever reach 5000...

~Jane~
 

Belle..I've made myself start writing in a journal. I love it and hate it.

I picked a lovely book with Maya Angelou quotes in it to inspire me. I love my treasures that I've collected. My children's poems, art and pictures. I initially dread writing my thoughts. If they sounded as pretty as your thoughts then maybe I wouldn't mind so much. Later, as I read thru them, I realize the honesty and truth that I've captured.

I've resolved to never erase what I'm writing and feeling at the moment. So educational to this know it all person that I've become. I momentarily realize that I really don't know anything, and that I'm learning something everyday!

I've always liked reading your words!