For her latest column, Michelle Gant, Editor of Engaging Stories, has a new idea for a collaborative book – and this one will be one that many of us will be able to relate to
“Parenting is like writing, most people just make it up as they go along.”
Kate Atkinson
This summer marks a decade since I became a mother to my lovely daughter. It’s fair to say that having been a fairly confident, together, sort-of-know-what-I’m-doing person up until that point, parenthood came as a shock to the system. To say the least.
Yet within the chaos, the fears, the tears, and the all-consuming love, I found solace and peace within words and stories. I wrote, like never before, finding my typing fingers barely able to keep up with the thoughts and ideas circling in my head. Prose, poetry, and of course my very own fictional blog which I eventually published as an e-book – The Secret Life of The Baby. It was writing that gave me succour when I didn’t have a clue what I was meant to be doing (I still don’t to be honest).
But more than that. It was people’s stories that were a huge source of inspiration, and reassurance. The oh-yes-that-happened-to-me tale, the-mine-too-when-they-were-that-age saga, the I’ve-been-there-as-well yarn. It was these stories, so generously and candidly shared, that helped me see parenting isn’t such a lonely place after all.
And so, it was reflecting on these ten years that made me think, well, what about if our next book was a collection of stories from the coalface of parenting?
- What if it was a space for people to share their experiences and in doing so, let other parents know they’re not alone?
- What if it was also sold to raise funds to support other families, with 100% of profits going to a charity supporting families?
Well, the thinking spiralled and here we are…
Roots and Wings: Stories of Parenting
They say we should give our children roots and wings and in doing so they do the same for us.
So, this will be a collection of parenting stories. Contributions can be in the form of essays, or poetry, or prose, whatever feels right for you. It’s not about opinions on the right or wrong of parenting methods, or views on how best to parent (is there such a thing after all?) It’s about sharing our experiences, our stories in the hope that we can let other parents know they’re not alone. Plus, as an added bonus, what I’ve learnt over the last few years is that it is very likely that the writer will find something extremely useful just in the act of well, writing.
As always the eventual book will be sold for charity and, this time, we will be supporting a charity that helps families. But what will be different with this book is I’ll be asking the contributors to help to choose what good cause we support.
I have a feeling this will be a really special book. But of course, these things only get off the ground if there’s enough of us that say yep, I’d like to be part of that (that’s the whole engaging part of engaging stories then). So, I’d love you to get involved. You can find out more here or you can always drop me an email – engagingstories@yahoo.com
In the meantime, have a fantastic summer (and if you find the summer holidays causing a bit more stress than usual, then well maybe putting pen to paper or finger to keypad might be a handy thing to do…).
If you would like to share YOUR stories of parenting with Michelle, email engagingstories@yahoo.com. Visit engaging stories.
Featured image of Michelle Gant – supplied
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