Making Memories

I took my kids on my book tour -- partly so they'll have life memories. Nothing like trading hats with the train conductor.

It's a bit of dilemma when you're writing a book about parenting: how will my kids (and my parenting) be judged when I'm out in public?  Will they appear competent and compassionate as the book subtitle indicates?  Should I bring them on my book tour with me?

Of course, a book tour would be much easier without the kids in tow.  But I'd miss them, and most of all, they'd miss the chance to form memories.  Ten or twenty years from now, I'd like to hear them say, 'Oh, yeah, that was the time we took the train out to Boston when Mom's first book came out.'  (Hopefully I would be on my 12th book by then!) In the end, convenience lost and making memories won.

The whole family took the train out east, a 21-24 hour journey, and together we explored parts of New England.  My youngest traded hats with a friendly train conductor named Bob.  My oldest mapped out all the station stops from the Midwest to Boston's South Station.  The trip for me involved TV and radio interviews and getting dressed up for book signing events.  The trip for them involved running around the garden with cousins and drooling toothpaste with new found friends when they were supposed to be getting ready for bed.  We both made memories.

Writing a book has meant leaving my kids with babysitters more than usual.  Over the course of the last year there have been days with long hours and days they barely saw their mother.  I'd like to attach some positive memories to the process.  Maybe it's working.  My four-year-old now grins when he spots the cover and calls out "Mama's book!" My seven-year-old told me yesterday he knows what he'd like to be when he grows up: "An author just like you."

Were you involved at all in your parents' work life?  Do you have any early memories of family trips or events?