The Little Novelist

My kids live with their mother during the week in upstate NY. I am currently spending my weeks in New Jersey to make the commute into Manhattan easier. I drive up or take the train every Friday afternoon to see them. Currently I bring them to the house I still own half of in Kingston. As that situation changes, I will begin to permanently reside in New Jersey in the not-too-distant future. At that point, the kids will come down to New Jersey and get to enjoy romping around Manhattan with their dad. Until then, they look forward to seeing me every Friday night, and some weeks get a bit impatient waiting for the weekend to arrive.

Most kids though, will call you when the need arises. I'm not saying they don't care enough to call out of the blue usually, its just that at age 11 or 15 your priorities are different. So most parents will get that phone call that begins "So, how is everything? What are you doing?". When this happens we politely wait for the request for music, clothes, speakers, or a friend to sleep over.

This past week, both of my kids called me twice each. Just to say HI! It was strange. Made me feel good though. Knowing that I had raised two amazing kids that care about their dad and want to show their support to me. In each of the four calls I got, I kept asking "Is everything OK?" They have been extra eager a couple of times to see me after a trying week with my Ex's ummm, man-friend (what's P.C. here?).

The last of four calls I got was from Alec, my youngest. At 11, he has an amazing imagination and zest for life that any adult who knows him is amazed by. He told me he wanted to write a book. I think many kids go through this stage. I know I did. I wasn't expecting what happened next. Alec started to give me a summary of the plot of his book. A book called "The Key to Amber". A fantasy novel, where a group of kids discover a gateway to a magical world in the basement of a mansion, all stemming from a magical key given to one of the kids. Wow! I might convince him to let me post it online. Lets all join in encouraging this kind of creativity. GO ALEC!!