What Babies and Young Children Can Teach Us

Infants and young children are quite new to the world, and are still learning about it. However, there are a few key things they often know that many adults do not.

1.  If you have to do something unpleasant like get a dental checkup, you'd better get something good out of it, like a lollipop or a toy. More grown-ups would visit the doctor if they were rewarded with a coupon for a sundae at Baskin-Robbins.
2. Clothing was invented so people could have wearable napkins.
3. Maturity is overrated.
4. Imagination is infinitely better than boring grown-up stuff like bills and algebra.
5. The world is meant to be explored.
6. Puddles are fun to jump in, and who cares about soggy socks?
7. God created dirt for people to dig in, build things with it, and otherwise have fun with it.
8. Half the fun of spaghetti is slurping the long noodles.
9. If there is a cute, friendly animal, you must pet it.
10. Everything is a toy that can be played with.
11. If you look hard enough on St. Patrick's Day, you'll find a leprechaun.
12. Imaginary friends are awesome.
13. The messier the food, the more fun it is to eat.
14. Snow is for playing games and building sculptures.

Instant Character- Just Add Water

When writing a story, characters find their way into the plot in different ways.

For example, you need a character to help your protagonist out of the predicament they got themselves into. So you craft a character, decide their appearance, choose personality traits, and whatever else seems important. Then you decide when you're going to put them into the story.

Then there's the instant characters. You need to have an interesting character, perhaps you should create one—

VCR

While house-sitting for someone, I decided I would watch a movie. I took out the video tape, put it into the VCR/DVD combo, then set it to VCR mode. To my annoyance, nothing was happening. I pressed 'play', the TV was in the right mode, but I was having no luck.

At one point, I took out the video tape again. I then noticed that all of the tape was on the right reel. Hmm, maybe that means something. I thought sarcastically. I put it onto the machine again, then pressed 'rewind'. I then headed to the stove to continue making dinner.

After a few minutes, I began thinking that it was taking a long time to rewind. I glanced over at the television and saw the credits slowly going by in reverse. Exasperated, I went over to the VCR, pressed 'stop', then hit 'rewind' again.

So, five days after deciding to watch the video, I actually sat down and enjoyed it. If anybody has seen my brain, please contact me at 1-800-VCR-DUHH.