Mom Pride…Just a Bit

For those of you who have been reading my blog or my tweets/FB updates for a while, you probably know that I have one son. On the one hand, I try not to talk TOO much about him out here, just because…well, this is a writing/critiquing blog, not a mom blog. On the other hand, he comes up in topics sometimes, because–frankly–he’s a great reader and critiquer and one of the best fans of my writing I could ask for.

Last night, the roles got switched, and I got to be a fan. And, what the heck, I’m going to blog about it.

The school district he’s in for middle school has a writing contest every year and picks one winner from each school in the district. Last year, my son’s teacher entered a story he’d written for her class, and he won for his school. And that was the first step of an incredible program that the district has created. Here’s what happened after that point:

• He took a workshop and uploaded his book onto a website that lets you format and publish your book online or order it bound, hard copy. You can scan in illustrations, too, which he did.
• The program coordinator came to his school to take an author photo.
• We bought our copies of the book.
• A reporter from the San Jose newspaper called him for an interview.
• Last night, he and the other winners had a ceremony/book signing at the local Barnes & Noble.

And I just have to say, last night was amazing. Barnes & Noble was packed, with the kids, their families and friends, and SO many teachers and principals. Each kid was called up to say a few words about their book, and they were given certificates, blank journals, and a gift card for the store. Then each principal escorted each author to his or her signing table.

My son brought a pen he’d made by inserting the ink tube from a ball point pen into the base of a feather. 🙂

I’m not going to go into all the thoughts and feelings I had as I saw him up there, because sometimes he reads my blog, and he’s not going to want to see all that in print. Mostly, it was just amazement and awe at who he has become and who he is still becoming. It’s not about the writing, although, of course, I love that. It’s about seeing this young man creating himself, turning into the person he wants to be. And knowing that he will keep doing that for decades and that I’ll get to watch.

It’s been years since my husband and I made the decision to have a child. I know that it is one of the best decisions, if not the best, that we ever made, and I know, too, how lucky we are to get to feel that way. Life is a story, and you never know which way the plot and characters are going to go.

I’m liking our arc just fine.