every time

Every time you share a story with me

And it makes me chuckle, smile, laugh out loud or say awwww

And totally makes my day

I get to respond with my reaction

Which I’m pretty sure brings you joy, knowing I get joy out of your story

Then I start drawing it in my head which sparks another round of joy

And eventually on ‘paper’ where the details get worked out and the final steps bring so much satisfaction

Then I get to share the drawing back to the one who gave us the story

And I get your response which is typically a happy one

Which triggers another round of joy for myself

I then get to share it with the rest of the subscribers and folks who follow along

And I get to imagine the responses and the further sharing and passing of the story and comic

And It just goes on

Not without your stories though

So thank you very much





new challenges

This week I got to draw a comic with my niece in her wheelchair

It was exciting to try something new and to pull it off

I like when I can individualize the kids in the comics

So it helps to know details

I have drawn curly coils of hair

Red hair, straw hair, pig tails, braids and freckles

I also drew a girl with Down’s Syndrome

I don’t think anyone would look at the comic and think

‘Oh that’s a darling little girl with Down’s Syndrome’

But I did make an effort and searched on the web for distinguishing characteristics of a Down’s Syndrome child

It helps me see people better also when I do this

I start to see differences in hair textures

Or hairlines or the way hair falls

Not that you’re going to get a portrait of your child if you submit a story

But when you see the comic, if you’ve given me a detail that sets your kid apart

I hope you will see (maybe with a little imagination) your child in the story

For the most part my generic little people cover most of the stories

And submitters typically love them

And are free to say if I didn’t quite get it right

Yay for do-overs

Thank you for your stories

apologies

It has been so fun getting stories again

They’re rolling in daily

I would rather be drawing stories than practically anything else

I have been contemplating sharing more than one story a week

But each one deserves it’s own time in the spotlight

The details of the ebook are slowly getting wrapped up also

We are about one step away from publication

But it’s kind of a major step

And technology is wonderful when it does what it is suppposed to and works for us

And typically it throws in some speed bumps

And when I am not working on it I wish I was

I feel a little bad for those closest to me

It often goes like this:

Me trying to tear myself away from this hobby:

‘What do you got going on today?’ Or ‘How was your day?’

And they proceed to answer:

‘I’ve got to meet Jerry and bring the guys some mesh and ….then it slowly morphs into moving lips and ‘whah whah’

Like Charlie Brown’s teacher’s voice

And I say all the uh huhs but honestly I hope it wasn’t anything life changing

Because you’ll have to repeat the last ten minutes of what you just said

I apologize I was drawing comics in my head

aaaarrrggh

Memory is not fair

It is so selective

I can remember way too many useless instances

Like the time the music teacher hurt my feelings in fourth grade

My childhood phone number and the tune the keys played when we typed it into the wall phone keypad

What t-shirt I wore for my 2nd grade school photo

The first and last name of every kid in my kindergarten through 6th grade class (when prompted by photos)

(Which isn’t completely useless actually, but not extremely useful thus far in life either)

But yesterday I got home from running a few errands

And my 12 year old boy came running up to my car door

And as we chatted

He said the best funny

It was a joke that got me so bad

It was total ad lib, off the cuff, just him being his quick witted humorous self

And as I hugged him, laughed, grabbed all my paraphernalia

And asked him to get the five dozen egg carton

I thought: ‘I am going to draw that in a comic later’

Simultaneously thinking I would no way forget it

Even though I know better

I trusted my memory

I made that errant decision…

And now

I cannot for the life of me recall what he said

Not even remotely what it was about

No matter how much I throw the internal fit

I go back in my mind and retrace my steps to when I was in the car and everything that was happening in that moment

I beg and plead with my mind

I am to the point I would give my right hand for that memory

(Except then I’d have to learn to draw left handed)

And it refuses to be remembered

So I decided to follow the advice I give to others

I went on my phone and I saved the ‘submit your story’ page from Chattersticks to my home screen

And I will be tapping on that link and submitting my stories immediately as they happen or very soon after

So memories of my kids don’t get lost either

You all would have loved his joke too, if only

So don’t hesitate

Send the stories before they get lost in the shuffle of the mundane!

memories

One of my favorite reasons for drawing your stories in comic form is that if I didn’t

You would often forget that funny or precious moment ever happened

When I left off of this hobby in 2021 there were submitted stories I hadn’t drawn yet

And recently I’ve been drawing those ones and getting approval from the ones who shared them

And the reactions have been very interesting and diverse

One mom said ‘I shared that with you?! How embarrassing!’

Another said ‘Hahaha I forgot all about that, so cute!’

Another said it had happened slightly different and had me change a tiny part of the dialogue.

The ‘I forgot about that!’ response is the most common

And it makes me so happy to remind you

And you get experience the memory all over again

So much fun

Keep the stories coming

Kids are the best thing on earth

Hurry up summer

Three days to go

Doing our best

Vetting the kids’ end of the year requests

For field trip chaperone

Field day volunteering

Class party donut drop off

School wide Beach Apparel Day shopping

(‘Mom ask Mrs. Hyde if I can bring a pool noodle!’)

Missing library book searches

Art shows

Choir Concerts

Wanting to stay home because ‘the UV is gonna be 9!’

So hard to go to bed when the sky is light

and the pool is warmer than the air

And even harder to keep waking them early when I’d rather let them sleep

all ages

Today I had the joyful experience of a young

Say 19ish year old girl asking

‘Are you still drawing your comics?’

And I was so glad I can say I am back at it

The fan club of these stories spans all the age groups

And that makes my heart so happy

The more the merrier

Everyone deserves and needs these little characters in their inbox

Head to Chattersticks.com/subscribe and share that page with anyone you think would enjoy these stories

and/or would want their own stories drawn in this style totally free for all of us to love

a lot

We have a lot of teenage daughters at the moment

Five to be precise

Which means we also have a lot of other things

Hair brushes full of a lot of hair

Shoe racks full of a lot of shoes

Hanging racks full of a lot of clothes

(Possibly sagging from the weight)

(You’d think they wouldn't need to come steal dad’s t-shirts)

Shampoos and conditioners

Lotions and potions

Perfumes and body sprays

Chapsticks and glosses

Three of them have a license to drive so

Three little cars in the driveway feels like a lot

A lot of ‘can you cash app me for food?’ or gas

A lot of calls from the high school about a student being absent for ‘one or more classes’

A lot of ‘where are you- who you with - and when will you be home’

A lot of ‘buckle up’ and ‘drive safe’

A lot of waiting up long past when we’d like to be sleeping

To make sure they make it home

And to hear all about it

A lot of trips up and down the stairs in the morning

On repeat: ‘It’s time to get up, It’s time to get up’

A LOT of towels, mostly used ones

A lot of negotiations about whose car to drive

Whether one can wear another’s sweatshirt

Or, How much will you give me for cleaning your room?

A lot of dad’s jokes falling flat because teens are the toughest audience

And so much more

imagine

Imagine not signing up for the Chattersticks email

Not receiving a new adorable story about a kid in your inbox every Tuesday morning

Early in fact, 5am, in my time zone any way

(Apologies to those around the globe who have to wait until 5:00 your time)

I can’t imagine it

I love the comic stories so much even I subscribe

The coolest part is I draw them in batches and schedule them out for weeks

Even months

So by the time I open the email the stories are fresh again

They never get old

As I’ve been putting them together for a book and editing

And sorting and putting in files

I’ve read them hundreds of times

And they are always funny and sweet

Every time I get a new story I draw it up and show my kids and hubby

Too excited to keep it to myself

It is one of the easiest ways to spark joy in the world

To share stories of the best little critters on earth

If you’re not subscribed and enjoying the stories and sharing them

I can’t imagine!

Pass on something good today, make someone smile

I’ve never heard of anyone saying please no more awesome adorable sweet funny stories of kids:)

good grief

Me this very morning

As soon as it was time to take the middle school girl down to the bus stop

The shoes I ‘always’ leave by the front door for convenience

The slip on in a hurry shoes that never fail me

Were not where they should be

Not where I expected them to be

So with the clock ever ticking toward the bus arrival time I hollered for help

‘Who wore my shoes?’

‘They are NOWHERE’

‘Rea! Monica! Camryn!’

‘Which one of you girls wore my shoes?’

‘Wasn’t me’ (X3)

‘Well they don’t just disappear!’

I continue my frantic scrounging, searching, digging in shoe drawers and cubbies

Venting out loud

‘This is NOT FAIR’

‘Moms should not have to search for their shoes’

‘Are you girls SURE you never borrowed them?’

‘Mom NO’

‘The last time I wore them I put them back’

I know I could have gone barefoot, or wore any other of the 85 pairs of shoes in the house

And if it came down to missing the bus I would have

But as it got down to the wire and the bus roared through it’s route, closer all the time

I continued the hunt

Noticed my robe on the bedroom floor right below the hook and picked it up absently

To uncover the beloved missing slip ons had been hiding underneath it

I slipped them on and headed down the stairs

‘it’s okay girls, you can all CALM DOWN, I found my shoes’

I got a nonchalant glance from above a toasted bagel, a pause in the middle of putting ham on a sandwich, a brush stilled in a hand… and someone asked the dreaded

‘Where were they?’

As I marched out the door behind the middle school girl I mumbled

‘Not that it’s any of your business but they might have been in my room under my robe on the floor’

And was sent away with a snort and some Ha Ha’s

When I actually do lose all my marbles they are not even going to realize.

decisions decisions

I want to be ten years old and making the decisions our ten year old son gets to make every day

‘Mom which basketball should I bring to school?’

(He already has his mind made up, he just likes discussions;

One ball is lumpy and the other is bigger than he likes but big is better than lumpy)

‘You can’t play with a ball that has bumps on it’

Then it is on to what he wants to eat for breakfast, what he wants packed in his lunch

‘LOTS of Goldfish mom, I always finish them on the bus on the way home!’

It’s always the same shoes, unless he got them wet and muddy

And sometimes even when they are wet and muddy

What to whittle next

Who to call and make plans with for the weekend

What book to have mom read at bedtime (That’s a TOUGH one)

Sometimes he can’t make that decision so he hands me a stack and makes me choose

And typically vetoes my ruling

I also wish I could make decisions with the confidence he has

Just pick choose done moving on

drip

Today I have a challenge for you

Explain to one of your kids how to prepare the Mr. Coffee for tomorrow

That’s the old fashioned electric drip coffee machine

We had a ten dollar one when we first got married

After about 13 years we graduated to an automatic espresso machine

And a Keurig

And that’s all the kids have known

Until the hubby decided he actually prefers good ol Mr. Coffee

So we splurged

And I randomly decided to have one of the kids ready it for tomorrow

I figured it was easy enough

I should be able to tell her how

So I attempted

And was met with ‘Huh?’

‘K wait so I have to dump coffee out?’

‘What’s a filter?’

‘The water goes where?”

It seemed so simple when I started

We’ll see what we get in the morning

Pfft

Today I just want to appreciate

The absolute adorable-ness of a tiny boy in church

Turned around backwards on the bench in front of us

Feathery blond hair and pokey out ears

A couple bucky teeth

Learning to blow a bubble with a tiny piece of Wrigleys

Chew chew, work the gum furiously with his tongue

Then ‘Pfft” blow a little hole in it

Repeat

These precious little critters are the best thing on earth

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