Kids Make Me Say The Darndest Things

When I started this blog I wanted to learn to better write short pieces, not quite essays and not quite articles, but clear statements with a consistent, easy to read voice. I've probably failed. With a four year old and an almost two year old constantly violating any sense of peace or concentration that's managed to accidentally exert itself on our environment, writing cohesively is next to impossible. Doing anything not involving them is impossible.

I'm sure in some pieces I've done a better job than in others. All the entries would have benefitted from some planning before the writing, and some editing after. Instead each of these posts are first drafts, including the ones where I had a murky or non-linear set of points to make. I'm smart enough to know I shouldn't try to write under those circumstances but I've done it anyway. Hey, it's a free blog.

I take some refuge in the fact that I really have no readers. There's a certain freedom there but I'd still trade the time and effort to produce better work if I knew I were actually proving useful in some way to somebody, or at least holding their interest.

Typing practice being beneficial, I'll keep writing these things. Perhaps down the road, if I actually achieve a commercial readership, someone will come along and read through these archives. I like the thought of that for some reason but we'll see how it goes. For now, I've resisted any temptation to create a fake log in and post my own comments just to show a readership.

If I could just get my kids to read and write at a higher level, I could make them do it. You want to go to swimming lessons? Log on and compliment yesterday's blog entry. Hurry up, you! I want two hundred pithy words out of you! And your closet better be clean, too.