When my daughter came down to visit me in March, she had mentioned that she was writing a story about dragons. Y’see, dragons are her newest fixation. She wants to actually become a “dragonologist” when she grows up.
Hey…who am I to tell her otherwise?
So when I received a big paragraph of words in my email a couple of weeks ago, I wasn’t sure what to make of it all at first. I quickly realized, however, that this was her story!!
But wait…it looked like one big run-on sentence. WTH?? Don’t they teach grammar in school??
Oh yeah…she’s only 10. Heh.
I wanted to do something for her…just something small to help her remember that daddy does, in fact, love her immensely. I decided to take her story and do something with it…make it look like an actual STORY. Separate the paragraphs…distinguish the conversations…add some pictures. Really “do it up”.
As I went through it, I really had NO CLUE what I was reading. But you know what? I didn’t really care…I still don’t. It appears as though she took a game that she plays a lot, Spyro, and used some of the game storyline and turned it into something for herself.
Okay…so it’s borderline plagiarism. So what? She’s frickin’ ten, people.
I sent it to her on Friday and she freaked out when she read it on Saturday. We talked and she wanted me to immediately start working on her follow-up (lol). I told her that I was pretty busy this week and had the Ankle Biter this weekend, so it might not be right away.
Still…I got the positive reaction I was hoping for. It totally made my day.
So without further adu, I proudly present The Rugrat”s first ever “published” work:
May 11th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
oh you are such a good dad. how awesome!
May 11th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
Ok, how funny that you did this. My 7 year old has been begging me to start an “art blog” for her. I have to get my scanner going and was planning on doing that for her.
You rock, CBG.
That is awesome. Depot Dad would love that too.
May 12th, 2009 at 12:56 am
I wish my daughters had a daddy like you.
May 12th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
It’s great you’re encouraging your daughter’s writing. My kids’ school had a “Writer’s Workshop” program where the students did creative writing, from 2nd through 6th grade. I was fortunate enough to be a parent volunteer all those years for my son’s classes. It was FUN!!!! If any parents get the chance, volunteer like that. It’s great to see how other kids think. And with creative writing, it’s all about the story telling.
Kudos to your daughter, and props to you, CBG!