A Mickey Mouse Operation: IWSG

The Insecure Writer's Support Group  posts the first Wednesday of each month. 
Hello and thanks to our host, Alex Cavanaugh and to his co-hosts, Nancy Thompson, Mark Koopmans, and Heather Gardner.


Last week my day started with me stepping in poop, and even though plenty of people wished me "hope your day gets better"s...it didn't.

Honestly, it got worse.

In my rush to pack and send boy #2 (Cole) out the door and on his way to Florida, he got a mediocre dinner and fresh-from-the-dryer-before-the-waist-band-dried swim trunks to stuff in his bag as we ran to catch his bus.

Next stop...Disney World!

We did a quick check: undies, sun block, wallet, Disney confirmation.

All good!

Or so we thought.

Cole ordered his tickets to Disney online and forgot to put the card back in his wallet.

I never thought of it. I'd been busy all day making sure I got chapter edits into the publisher.

So, off my three-hundred pound lineman goes with $100 in his pocket and a week's worth of meals to buy ahead of him.

He could stretch it and make it last, right?

Real soon, I start having visions of him partying like the Donner's and fear for the safety of his room mates.

But it's almost midnight and nothing I can do, so I head to Mail Chimp to work on making myself a nice, professional newsletter to let my readers know a new book is coming soon.

Problem was, I was as clumsy and confused on the site as a monkey is with his opposable thumbs. Yeah, he's got them, but beyond picking bugs off his neighbor, he doesn't really know how to use them.

That was me. I was filling in the boxes, but had no clue what I was doing.

Still reeling from sending my boy off in a frenzy, I realize my life is more upside-down because I'm constantly busy trying to make this writing thing happen.

I had to ask myself: is it worth it?

Am I wasting my time? Bringing unnecessary chaos to my family? Should I go back to social work where the toughest day was talking a teen off a ledge...I mean that I was good at!

Writing? In this, I feel like I'm in over my head.

Am I even smart enough to do it, because come on...let's be honest...writing goes way beyond putting words on paper.

Stressed and fed up, I headed to Facebook to whine to my fellow Daydreamers*.

Pretty soon I was surrounded by support and the fabulous Brinda Berry even posted, "shoot me an email if you need help".

I wanted to cry. People are too good to me.

The next day, the sun rose and I made arrangements to wire money to Cole.

It cost me $12 to put another couple hundred in his pocket.

But I had to do it...the child had to eat.

Cole and Ms. Pre-Med

And he sent me this thanks after dinner. He assured me this little lady is working her way through med school, so leaving a big tip was for a good cause.

 See? It's turning out all right.

I'm raising socially conscious boys who will learn to double check their bags for themselves.

Or that you can fail, and there will always be friends (or parents) to help you out.

And then there is the ultimate truth: the crazier life gets...the better the story.


*Daydreamers Anonymous is a private Facebook page for serious writers who want support. To get an invite, find a daydreamer (like myself), befriend them and ask them to bring you in. It's that easy...you don't even have to know the secret hand shake.