Why I Wanted to Write a Children's Book

My Daddy died when I was 5 years old. He was an alcoholic. When he wasn't drunk, he was a kind, gentle and wonderful man and I treasure the memories that I have of those moments. But, when he was drunk, it was really bad, especially for my Mom. My Daddy did not die because of being an alcoholic, but the negative effects of the disease on me as a child and remembering the experiences that my mom and baby brother endured and then things that I still deal with emotionally today as an adult just really made me want to be able to use those negative experiences to help children in a positive way. Through various situations, I saw opportunities to change up some patterns and break any molds in order to give my children the best version of myself as a parent and to just try my best to prevent my kids from having the same negative experiences.

When I had my first child, all that  I really knew is that I wanted to be a good Mom.  I loved children, but I didn't know exactly how to be a Mom.  I read books. I heard LOTS of unsolicited advice. After my son was born and he had been alive for 1 week, I remember thinking that I must be  doing something right because he was ALIVE!! I also realized really quickly that sometimes you have to throw all that advice out the door and do what is best for you and your child.  Every family is different. Every child is different.  For instance, someone told me early on... DO NOT LET YOUR CHILD SLEEP WITH YOU. Well, when you are SO tired as a new Momma and your baby is crying and NOBODY is sleeping, you do what you need to do that works for YOU! That may not be right for one family, but it doesn't mean that it isn't right for yours.

I have always loved working with children and started volunteering in children ministry.  Taking the time to just talk with a child makes you realize that they have worries about situations that you may never even realize they are struggling with.  We get wrapped up in our own issues as adults that we often don't realize that a child is struggling with things that are really BIG to them, but seem so small to an adult.Watching my own children (they are Teens now) and trying my best to help with things that troubled them, listening to children during church activities, having conversations with children while having lunch with my kids when in elementary school, and working with kids when my husband and I coached sports increased my desire help children.

The thought of writing a children's book was always something that seemed so neat to me, but I never saw myself as a writer.  In 2017, the burden of writing this children's book was heavy on my heart, but I didn't really know how to write a book and I didn't know how to get things published.  I had the story in my head, but I didn't have it on paper at that moment.  I was in a grocery store and saw a story on the front page of a local newspaper about a man that had written a children's book and had it published.  I bought that paper to read his story and saw this as a God sign and contacted the publisher about their process.  At that point, I put my first story on paper.