The Sparkle of a Child

My little girl turns two today! I've been misty-eyed all morning so far, but that may be due to the fact I've been up since 4 a.m. nursing my 7-week old baby.

We celebrated Ayla's second birthday at Sesame Place in PA, because she's in love with "Chi-Chi" (aka Cookie Monster). Among the swarm of children and anxious parents trying to keep up with them, my writer-mama mind enjoyed taking in Ayla's supreme joy and excitement. As I watched her sing, dance, clap, and sprint (she no longer runs everywhere but literally sprints) throughout the weekend, my heart burst and overflowed with love over and over again.

How does a writer-mama capture the pure essence of a child in her writing? Ayla's entire being is much more than a collection of words, more than Freudian analysis of a child's personality, and even more than a body, mind, and soul. Every child I watched at Sesame Place is more in spirit than we'll ever be able to describe in words. There's a universal thread of unique energy that is shared among all children. To me it feels like a spiritual energy of miracles, but it's difficult to find the right words for it.

I'm reexamining my picture book manuscripts now to see if I can do a better job making the characters sparkle and come alive like the children I observed over the weekend.

Happy birthday my little Kuddle! You are my lively spark of a muse!