With two daughters interested in Model United Nations, I have had several chances to chaperon them on their various out-of-town events. During these conferences, my teen-aged daughters and their peers are assigned countries and they become delegates in a simulation of the United Nations.  They discuss world events, debate issues, resolve political matters and pass UN resolutions.
          For the past four days, I was chaperon for my daughter's school for a conference in Philadelphia.  This was the first for me to chaperon in high school and the turnout was massive, with 2000 delegates from all over the world, some flying in from China, for the event.  My daughter's school had 105 students participating and, as it turned out, I was not assigned to chaperon my daughter's room....Which was fine by me, seeing that the whole idea was to be around, if needed, but to give my daughter space to be independent and responsible.  This is how things went:

Day 1:  Daughter misplaced shoes and money.

Day 2:  She found the shoes but got them soaking wet in a puddle walking in the sleet to lunch.  Borrowed my boots

Day 3:  Nothing got lost, got hit up for money,though.  Oh well.

Day 4:  We arrive home and oops!  Suit, and boots (mine) are missing.  Daughter had placed them, not in her own luggage at check-out but in a white, unmarked, plastic bag that she dumped , not in, but over the three pieces of luggage she had. 

Now, the boots, I can live without, but the suit is a story on its own.

This is the same suit I spent the ten days before we traveled finding for my daughter.  She, a princess, would stay home, while my other daughter and I, would go to various stores, find, what we considered a suitable suit, purchased it, and scurried home so that, afore-mentioned princess would try it on and dismiss it, sending us scurrying back to return it.  This went on for days, until finally I struck gold:  I finally found the only suit in our county, that my daughter liked!  This is the very suit I spent Monday morning calling the hotel and trying to locate.  So far no luck.

As chaperon I was assigned to check the rooms after they were emptied of bags.  There was no trace of anything left behind, but I had no idea that I had to ask:  "Did any of you pack your clothes in unmarked white bags?"

Even in writing, sometimes you check sources and material, but end up with something totally unexpected that needs to be researched further.  With time, writers learn to cover all bases...It's called experience.
From my experience, to chaperon or not to chaperon renders the same end result.  Lesson learned.

A few weeks ago, on a rainy day, I looked out into the backyard and saw a large bird perched in a tree.
My six-year-old son loves animals, especially unusual birds, and he got his binoculars for us to take a closer look.  The bird seemed to be a kind of bird of prey with a hooked beak and a short neck.  I went on-line and looked up images of falcons and found out it was a peregrine falcon, a bird of prey that was endangered at one point, but which was now bouncing back from that plight.  I also found out that this bird was a long way from home.  The falcon took off, but left my son and me with many questions.
My son loves to add displays to a few shelves in his room that he calls "the museum."  He decided we needed to visit the library for books on this bird.  It was a great way to change the mood from all the rain and off we went.  The database was rife with books on birds of prey, but only one was specifically a story about a peregrine falcon.  It was an A to Z Mysteries book entitled "The Falcon's Feathers."  To my surprise, I found out it was written by Ron Roy.  What a pleasant surprise it was.  Ron was the first instructor that ever taught me the know-how of writing for children and young adults.  It was really nice to find this book and it really got me thinking.
It is indeed a small world, but in the non-routine of my life I took this as a sign that things happen for a reason, and even when one is hit by some unforeseen 'mishap' from left field, there is a way to regain resiliency in the face of the unexpected.  Some people feng-shue their attitude faster than others and bounce back to write...more regularly.  Some need to be prompted back with a word, a good book or perhaps a coincidence.  It took a resilient-peregrine-bird coincidence for me.

There was irony to the fact that the day after Thanksgiving is Black Friday.  At our house this year right after Thanksgiving dinner was put away on that Black Friday eve, we had a windy storm sweep through our area, resulting in a power outage.  My younger two children immediately declared that no way they would sleep in their own beds, but will join me in mine.  My teen daughters wanted to know if I was upto taking them and a few friends to the mall at four in the morning for early bird shopping the next day before dawn!  I just wanted to sleep and get the day over with.  With my young ones tucked into bed with me and the teens in stereo trying to secure a promise that I would get up at 3 AM the next day, I felt the only option I had was to call the "not clean room" card.  I told my daughters they had to have clean rooms before I would take them....knowing fully that there was NO way they could get everything out of their rooms in time.  My son decided he wanted to write a poem about the dark, so to the light of his little lantern this is what he wrote before sleeping:

My son is a first grader, but I have to share his little contribution entitled THE DARK with his own spelling.

The dark is a littl skary.  
But it can be fun too.
You can do lots of things in the dark
lets name a fuw like flash lite tag or hide and seke or maby you can make shados on the walls.
And we can allso name a fuw of things that can't wrk in the dark like Tv or lits and the mikriwav.
But thar are things that wrk in the dark like fosits or flushing a toylit and you can use a fon.
Do you nowe why some of the werds are speld rong is bicuse I'm writing this in the dark!


I have to say, I loved this poem no end!  Then it was lanterns out...

Long story short, I was awoken at 3 AM by my daughter saying her room was now spotless and would I now take her shopping.  I thought she must be sleep walking.  I could not get up at that unearthly having been kicked all night long by my young bed guests....but I did end up at the mall at 8 with all the rest of the world shopping!  I love crowds and really enjoyed the mall too.  Everyone ended up happy anyway, which is both rare and good sometimes.  But what amazed me about the children was how they used their lantern/flashlight time efficiently.  It's amazing what one can do when one is motivated, I guess.

I am terrible with plants.  Never had any luck with keeping them alive long enough.  In the past whenever I was gifted a plant, I shipped it straight to my parent's house where my Mom, a true green thumb, took care of it.
This continued for several years, until I hit upon one success story that turned my gardening experience around.

Three years ago, my son, then three, decided to join his sisters in celebrating teacher-appreciation week.  My son attended a weekly class at a farm, where the children sang, played in rice filled tubs and then went out to see the farm animals.  It was fun because Miss Jodie, his teacher was very good.

My daughters' school had a theme for each day for teacher appreciation week. 
The first day's theme was a card, the second a flower and so on.  The third day was a fruit.  My girls decided on pineapples.  When we bought some for their teachers, we got one for Miss Jodie and one pineapple for home.

In writing, many ideas come to mind from unlikely sources and this is the same for the idea that popped into my head as the pineapples sat on my counter-top.  How could I grow a pineapple?

Now this is me, the person who has no luck in keeping clover alive, deciding to grow something as majestic as a pineapple.

I went on-line and discovered that the process for growing  pineapples was deceptively easy.  I have to tell you.  I was very skeptical, but it's been three years now and I have an amazing pineapple plant that I grew at home.  It stays on my deck in the summer and I bring it indoors for the rest of the year.

The 'pineapple' encouraged me to introduce more plants into my life. And to try novel ideas in my writing. I have since acquired more indoor plants, and planted two more pineapples. They all keep me company in the gloomy winter months.

I'd like to share how I planted the pineapple, because it remains an inspiration.  In writing as, in gardening, all it takes is one successful idea and  you take it from there.

Here's what you need:

-A pineapple from your produce section at the grocery store. Choose one with a healthy looking crown of green.
-Potting soil
-A medium pot ( you could transfer the plant to a large pot eventually, after a year or so)
-A shallow bowl
-A large serrated knife.  I used one from the kitchen.
-A tablespoon
- Water

Place the knife two inches down from the top of the pineapple.  Cut across the top of the fruit so that you have the crown of green leaves and a small section of fruit.  You know you have the right part of the pineapple if you could place the cut section in a bowl and it stands up on its own. This is all you need for your plant.  You can eat the rest of the pineapple.

With the spoon, carve out as much as possible,of the fruit flesh that is under the green crown.  You will end up with a hollowed out cap of pineapple with a green crown.

Stand your hollowed cap in a shallow bowl and add water.  Make sure the water covers the entire cap part of the pineapple.  

Change the water in the bowl twice a day for two days.

On the third day place the cap/crown in potting soil and water it in the center of the green cap.

Water in the center every day for a week.  

Once you start to see new growth of green from the center of the crown ( after a week to 10 days), you can move to watering the center once every three days.

In farm grown pineapples, a pineapple fruit starts to form after two years.  But this is not the case with home grown pineapples.  My largest pineapple plant is three feet tall and three years old with no fruit. 

"Don't be in a horrry," George said.  George works for the pest control company we hire year round.  He's from Jamaica and comes over every quarter to spray ant repellents and the like.
"The pineappul plant grows only one fruit then dies.  So no horry no horry on the fruit," he says each time he sees my plant.  "Enjoy the plant."

And you too.  Enjoy the plant!

Before school started a few weeks ago, I sat my children down for our usual motivational talk.  "This is a new school year.  I want you to do your very best.  I am very proud of you."  And so on.

When I was done, my daughter asked me if I was going to do the "They're coming" incident this year too?

The "they're coming" incident went like this:

Towards the end of the last school  year.  I woke up in the morning and panicked.  My alarm had not gone off and the carpool for my daughters was due in 10 minutes.  I scrambled up the stairs, banged my eldest daughter's door down saying "They're coming!  They're coming!"

When I finally opened the door to her room, my daughter sat up saucer eyed and asked "Who's coming?"

"Them!" I said in desperation.  "Get up!"  In my panic I had even forgotten the names of the wonderful people who help me out in the morning pick up so I do not wake my younger sons early in the day.

Now fully awake and up, my daughter said.  "It's Sunday, Mom."

And indeed it was.  "Oh my gosh!  Please go right back to sleep honey," I said.

"Yeah really  mom!" my younger daughter hollered from the next room.  "I think we are both too awake now to go back to sleep.  Thanks Mom!" 

Needless to say, it was quite embarrassing.  My daughters told me later that they were quite worried by who "they" were.  They were not sure whether to hide or run for cover.

Just like in writing, I should have checked my facts.  

Later, I did some research.  Apparently, certain alarm clocks have a green time display light for week days and a red time display light for weekends.

I have not bought this new alarm clock, but on days when I wake up worried about time...I now check the calendar before reacting.

Live and Learn.