Do you remember having a magic slate when you were a kid? You know, those cardboard tablets with a gray film over a waxy black background that you could draw and/or write on with a stylus. Then you lifted the film and everything was erased and you could start over.

I feel like my summer has had that gray film over it. The illness of a dear family member has colored my every waking moment. I wish I could lift the film and erase the events of the past six weeks. But life isn’t a magic slate. This is our new reality, and we are dealing with it one day at a time.

It has been a challenge for me to write during this time. I’ve had a hard time concentrating, and haven’t written anything I felt was worth sharing. But I’ve missed this community. So although this is a short slice, I just wanted to say hello to you all, and let you know I haven’t forgotten you. I hope you all have a good start to the school year.

Thank you to Stacey, Tara, Dana, Betsy, Anna, and Beth for this space for teachers and others to share their stories each Tuesday. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

Yesterday, Stacey wrote about singing lullabies to her daughter. Her post got me thinking about songs I sang to my kids, and songs from my own childhood. My boys are grown, but I have fond memories of the lullabies that were part of their bedtime routine.

When my children were babies, I sang to them all the time, and we quickly developed a bedtime playlist. And because we camped with my husband’s family quite often, my nieces loved these songs, too. In fact, Kelly asked me to sing them when we were all on a rafting trip through the Grand Canyon when she was thirteen!

Not surprisingly, most of the songs I sang to them were ones I had loved as a child. My parents had different tastes in music, but there was no question that they both loved it. We had a small portable record player on a metal stand in the dining room, and on Saturday mornings, my mother played her Glenn Miller records while she cleaned. She listened to other big bands and singers from the forties, but Glenn was definitely her favorite. Soundtracks, especially “The Sound of Music,” also got played frequently. My father, on the other hand, was a country and western fan. I have a lot of Marty Robbins and Jim Reeves songs in my head. The songs my parents played throughout my childhood influenced my own musical tastes. I love harmonies and ballads, and never really loved rock.

Alzheimer patients can often remember songs from their youth better than the names of their grandchildren. Educators have know for years that music helps students memorize rote material. (Think Schoolhouse Rock) Sometimes, just the first few notes of a song transport us back to the time we first heard it. I remember when I first heard She & Him, tears came to my eyes. Their retro sound automatically brought me back to that sun-drenched dining room of the 60s, listening to that little blue record player.

I can’t remember when I stopped singing to my kids, and I could never choose just one song as my favorite. But, of all the songs my parents shared with me, and that I shared with my children, there is one that sums up my wish for them as they make their way in the world.

Thank you to Stacey, Tara, Dana, Betsy, Anna, and Beth for this space for teachers and others to share their stories each day during the month of March and on Tuesdays throughout the year. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

(This slice is a modified version of a post from 2012. You can read the original here.)

I have started at least four different posts today, but none of them were coming together in a way that I was happy with, and I have no more time to write today. So I’m resorting to a 10 Things Right Now list, an idea Mandy Robeck shared from Ali Edwards way back in October, 2013. Many Slicers used this format last year, and I’ve seen more this year. It’s a tried-and-true option for a busy day.

10 Things on Thursday

• The sky is a brilliant shade of blue this afternoon.
• I crossed three items off my to-do list at work today.
• One of my students made some terrific inferences today, which is typically a real challenge for him.
• We have leftover corned beef, so I don’t have to cook supper.
• The new issue of The Horn Book arrived today and I can’t wait to read about all the wonderful new books coming out in the next few months.
• I’m still processing all I learned at the conference I went to last weekend.
• This morning my husband asked me what movie I wanted to see this weekend. Any suggestions?
• I MUST do some laundry tonight.
• My critique group meets on Sunday, and I have new chapters and picture revisions in my mailbox that I’m looking forward to reading.
• Tomorrow is the first day of spring!

Thank you to Stacey, Tara, Dana, Betsy, Anna, and Beth for this space for teachers and others to share their stories each day during the month of March and on Tuesdays throughout the year. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

Cure for a Cold

Take one long weekend,

add lots of naps (cat curled up on lap optional);

mix in regular servings of hot tea and ginger ale,

chicken soup and toast;

sprinkle with at least one book, one old movie AND

the latest episode of Downton Abbey.

Feel better by Monday!

My weekend in a nutshell. I did work on my writing yesterday, but nothing came together that’s ready to share. I felt well enough to go to work today, but I’m ready to call it a night. Stay healthy, everyone!

Thank you to Stacey, Tara, Dana, Betsy, Anna, and Beth for this space for teachers and others to share their stories each Tuesday. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

Does procrastinate have an antonym? If it does, that should be my OLW. Because although I’ve been thinking about my “one little word” for at least a week, and have made several attempts to write about a choice today, here it is 11:30 on Tuesday night and I’m still on the fence about my decision. (Maybe decisiveness should be my word.)

Choosing just one word seems like it should be such a simple task. Maybe part of my hesitation comes from the fact that last year’s word, balance, wasn’t such a  great choice. I often felt like one of those circus performers who balance plates on the end of a pole while riding a unicycle. Except in my case the plates were just about to drop and I was going to fall off the unicycle any minute. Why I never crashed is beyond me.

Yet last year was also one of accomplishment and adventure. I’m excited to find out what 2015 has in store, both personally and professionally. And so I’m choosing discover as my OLW for this year.

One thing I love about this word is that it implies or incorporates words I considered. For example, I rejected curious because it seemed like more of a personality trait than a guiding mantra, yet it’s essential when making discoveries.

I have a number of goals I’d like to accomplish this year, goals I’ll have to strive towards. Strive didn’t make the cut, however, because when I looked it up I found that it had many negative connotations. Which isn’t really surprising when you remember the fact that strive and strife are derived from the same word. Conflict is not what I was looking for. Aspire was a contender, as was persistence.

Search is another word I considered. I decided against this word because it sounds like you know what you’re searching for, whereas discoveries usually take you by surprise. This element of finding the unexpected was important to me. Over the past year, many of my happiest and most memorable moments occurred when I was specifically not striving or persisting or aspiring. I was just being in the moment, paying attention to the world around me. In her book Wanderlust: A History of Walking, Rebecca Solnit states that “the random, the unscreened, allows you to find what you don’t know you are looking for…”

I’ll keep you posted about what I discover, both in and out of the classroom.

Thank you to Stacey, Tara, Dana, Betsy, Anna, and Beth for this space for teachers and others to share their stories each Tuesday. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

The pumpkin bread you baked for me

was gone within a day.

But the love you put into

measuring the sugar,

cracking the eggs,

stirring the pumpkin,

sifting the flour,

greasing the pan,

checking the time,

and wrapping the loaf

will stay with me

for months to come.

© Catherine Flynn, 2014

Baking breads, pies, and cookies for the holidays is a huge part of my family’s holiday tradition. Both of my grandmothers were excellent bakers and each had special holiday recipes we looked forward to. My father’s mother, my nana, baked delicious spritz cookies and decorated them with colored sugar and silver balls. She always had a plate of them ready for us by the kitchen door when we arrived on Christmas day.

My mother’s mother baked pies: apple and pumpkin and mincemeat. We lived next door to her when I was growing up and I was often at her house to watch or, when I was old enough, to lend a hand. This was years before Pillsbury pie crusts, so my grandmother’s crusts were always homemade with Crisco. There was always extra dough and she made delicious little crescent-shaped treats filled with raisins, cinnamon and butter. I don’t remember if she called them anything, but I’ve since seen a similar use of leftover dough called a pinwheel.

After college, I began my own baking traditions, which I’ve added to over the years. Candy cane cookies (sugar cookie dough dyed red and green with food coloring, then twisted into candy cane shapes) is a universal favorite, as are “Kiss” cookies, chocolate cookie dough wrapped around a Hershey’s Kiss, then dusted with confectioners sugar.

Each year I try to make at least one new type of cookie, but this year I haven’t had time. A jelly-filled sugar cookie recipe keeps popping up on Facebook and I may make that tomorrow. Tonight I’m writing this while making traditional Toll House cookies to take to my son on Thursday.

Baking is one of my favorite holiday traditions. Some years I’m able to bake with my sister or daughter-in-law; other years, I’m in the kitchen with my favorite Christmas albums for company. But whether I have company or am on my own, I look forward to continuing for years to come. I wish I could share a loaf of pumpkin bread and a cookie or two with all of you!

Wishing you all a joyous holiday!

Thank you to Stacey, Tara, Dana, Betsy, Anna, and Beth for this space for teachers and others to share their stories each Tuesday. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

‘Twas two weeks till Christmas, and all through the house

there were presents to wrap, cards to write, and cookies to bake…

You get the idea. Throw in a stressful week at work, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed. I’m doing my best to remain unflappable amidst all the hubbub. Thanks to my sister, who shared this on Facebook today, I have a new motto:

If you do feel like your loosing control of your tinsel, watch this video. It will restore you.

Thank you, Stacey, Tara, Dana, Betsy, Anna, and Beth for this space for teachers and others to share their stories each Tuesday. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.