Though it has been nearly two years since I have posted to my blog, I now have something new that’s worth writing about!
I have been blessed with a new grandson! This event inspired me as a dad (now a granddad) to put together a new book about kids… my kids, your kids… a book about every parent’s experience in raising kids.
Everyone has a story, whether it be from your own childhood, your family or your friends. Somewhere in your memory, there is a happening that involved kids, their logic, their determination, their raw and innocent responses to situations. Many of these recollections are priceless treasures that beg to be shared with others.
I have collected a few of these stories, along with some of my own experiences and recollections for this first volume of What the Kid Did! I hope that this little book will inspire others to reach back into their memories and recall some of their own childhood adventures and happenings. New hardcover copies are available now. (See below).
This post is an early call for entries for the 2015 volume of What the Kid Did! If you have kids, I know you have stories, and I’d like to hear from you. Send me your story, and if we like it, it could appear in our next issue to be published in late November 2015. All published contributors will receive a complimentary copy of the new hardbound edition by mid December… just in time for Christmas! It will make a great family gift to be enjoyed by young and old alike.
Here is an excerpt from What the Kid Did!:
The Dummy
—Michael Faris
I was about twelve and my brother, Kevin was five. We shared a corner bedroom at our home on NW 6th street in Fort Lauderdale. Mom and Dad’s room was adjacent with a thin wall between.
It must have been past our bed time, because Dad was watching the late news in their bedroom. However, Kevin and I weren’t quite ready to call it a day and were apparently a bit too noisy.
“You boys better get it quiet in there!”
Dad’s stern voice was usually enough to mitigate any unwanted activities, and it did, for a short while. But restless young boys…
“If I have to come in there…!”
We settled down again, some. But by and by we were at it again, and after the basketball bounced off the middle wall, Kevin dove for the covers.
I could hear Dad’s belt jangling as he dragged it off the dresser. I hurried to make preparations for the inevitable confrontation. There were only a few seconds…
The hall light came on! I slipped into the closet just as Kevin lifted his cover to peer out. He saw me and decided to follow. He whipped his covers back and started out of the bed, but he was too slow.
Dad was angry. He didn’t put up with any tom foolery. He grabbed my brother up and gave him a couple of whacks with the belt.
Dad was stern, but he never really beat us. Just a few slaps with his leather belt on the legs was enough to get us in line. I think it hurt our pride way more than any physical damage.
Kevin jumped back into bed and Dad turned to my bed. He whacked the lumps concealed beneath the bedspread.
He tore away the covers, revealing a football, a dump truck and various other toys contrived to resemble a sleeping twelve-year-old… a dummy in the bed!
My little brother lacked the experience that I had in dealing with adults. He didn’t know that a laugh on his part was inappropriate at the moment. However, as the covers on my bed absorbed the first assault from the belt, he laughed out loud.
“So, you think it’s funny?” Dad whirled around and slapped at Kevin, who had by this time returned to the sanctity of his covers.
“Daddy… now wait a minute, Daddy. I want to tell you something!” he blurted out. Dad pulled the covers back. Kevin was halfway between laughter and fear. He pointed at the closet.
“Mike’s in there!”
Well Dad could no longer contain himself, Though he tried. The skin around his eyes began to crinkle and his mouth twitched.
By the time he dragged me out of the closet, we were all three laughing at my prank. As it turned out, I never got the spanking like Kevin did. He reminds me of it to this day, more than fifty years later!
Get a hardbound copy of What the Kid Did for only $20 (free shipping).
To order, contact me via email:
mfaris1950@gmail.com
or call me on my cell:
541-954-6724
Check out my Judeco website:
Tagged: Author, book publishing, child rearing, children, creative writer, kids, new books, POD books, Writer
