I am actually finding it incredibly intimidating to start this first post. It’s as though I need to establish in the first few sentences a valid and compelling reason that I am writing this at all or I might as well quit now. As I mentally coach myself through this exercise the beginning of the “Do a deer” song from The Sound of Music is echoing in my mind. You know, “Let’s start at the very beginning. A very good place to start.” So…here it goes.

Once upon a time I was a writer. Or I wanted to be and I practiced writing all the time. I worked multiple internships in writing, I was an editor for the college newspaper, I took creative writing classes and submitted to literary journals. But ever since I graduated from college in May I have written absolutely nothing. And not for lack of trying. I just have no ideas right now to write creatively and no reason to write otherwise. So this blog is really a quest for self-discipline. I figure if I make myself post something on it a few times a week, at least I will be writing. It is an attempt to discover whether I will continue to be a writer and in the meantime, hopefully amuse myself and anyone else reading this with my  ridiculous life and the hilarious children I take care of and my quest to make sense of it all.

I leave you with this thought… I am a nanny to three sweet kids ages 5, 3, and 1.  Over the past few weeks, Sami (3) has become increasingly bad about not taking a nap when it is nap time. Not only is this bad for her crankiness, it is bad for my sanity. Several times lately she has “woken up” from her nap after about 20 minutes and I have made her go back to bed and try to sleep some more (which she hates.) A few days ago she came down after about 30 minutes of “napping.” This time she had her story all prepared. In tears she said to me, “I keep trying and trying to sleep, but Kit (her doll)  keeps on talking and talking and she’s keeping me up! I keep telling her, Shh! Stop talking! But she just won’t do it!”

I miss having dolls to blame stuff on.