Where Ideas Come From Courtesy of an Eight-Year-Old

Ideas are everywhere, but surely the best ideas come from children.  I've long wanted to write a book set on the Titanic.  Right now would be the perfect time as my eight-year-old is enthralled with the ship and its sinking.  So we (over and over) watch the movies: the old Barbara Stanwyke, one from England, and, of course, the epic Jack and Rose.

Sunday was church.  My son had a lesson about Adam and Eve in his third grade classroom.  Adam and Eve gets taught a lot so it's rare for my son to reflect on his lesson.  Sunday, however, a plot line caught Mike's attention.  In a way, for Mike, Adam and Eve became Rose and Jack (I wanted to turn the conversation to Noah, because surely I could do a comparison with Jack and Rose and Noah and Mrs. Noah, but I don't DON'T wanted to picture Leonardo as Noah.  Kate as Mrs. Noah is fine with me, but Leonardo...no no no.)

Back on topic.

My son asks as we're driving home, "Mom, if Adam and Eve hadn't sinned, would we be naked today?"

This is what I get for telling him to LISTEN in class.

"Ah, maybe." (Bad visual)

He's not done.  "Mom, if Adam and Eve hadn't sinned would all the people on the Titanic have been naked when the ship went down?"  (Hmmm, a remake of the Titanic with a Hair component.  One word: ICK.)

So, yes, you can someday expect this conversation to appear in a book by Pamela Tracy.

And just in case you needed one more chuckle.  My son got a lego Bible for Christmas (Really someone has taken the Bible and illustrated the stories with lego characters.)  He's flipping through it and comes to a photo of a lego man laying on the ground with another man standing over him holding a sword.  My eight-year-old carefully sounds out the word under the photo: cir cum cise.

He looks up at me, points, and says, "Mom, this is just wrong."

Your turn.

What new and improved plot ideas did or do or will your kids give you."

Comments

  1. Oh my gosh, how funny. I remember when my girls were that age. No question was off topic! My current WIP features children. I need to listen to some little ones again since mine are grown.

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    1. Yes, and last night he and daddy were wrestling and Mike grabbed one of the syrofoam swords and gave daddy an evil look. We had to have the "You do not mimic all the stories in the bible."

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  2. Love this! Great start to the day (especially the LEGO bible)

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  3. Pam, I just spewed coffee. LOL. Out of the mouths of babes.

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    1. So, Liz, you have memories all the time on your blog. What do you remember.

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  5. Pam,
    What a rich life you lead. I spewed coke. Brings back some of the funny things my kids and grandkids have said. Now we'll all be reading fast to see where these things show up in your books.

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    1. I'm exhausted LOL. Yesterday we quadded for seven hours on Sugarloaf Mountain. At one point, Mike looked at me as we were tilted (in the quad) to a degree I'm not comfortable with and said, "I'm getting out, Mom." AND HE DID!
      Daddy came and drove the quad, tilted, down the mountain road that had just terrified Mike and I.

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  6. Ha, ha, ha! I don't get ideas from the grandkids, but I do get dialogue. Jessica, now 28, then about four demanded cocoa and a banana. Always trying to instill some sort of civilizing influence, I looked at her pointedly and said, "Is that the way you ask?" She added the 'please.' Ten minutes later she's jumping up and down on the sofa and I demanded, "Stop that right now!" to which she replied with a perfect mimic of my tone and expression, "Is that the way you ask?" So I added the please.

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  7. Well it's been a long time since my kids were young enough to create this kind of reverse teaching scenario. Tell Mikey he's my very most favorite eight-year old boy. So cute . . .

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  8. Such a cute post, Pam!! Hopefully, Mike will never abandon his "why" stage. Parents of teenagers claim it's better than a "why not" phase!

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    1. Oh, believe me, he's a shot of eight year old with a teenager chaser. LOL

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  9. There is nothing more entertaining than having a conversation with my children! Great post, Pam :)

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    1. We had one of the best nights ever. We just started watching Leave it to Beaver together. What fun.

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  10. Love it! My son is three and a half and lately he is obsessed with getting taller lol-He feels bad for me that I'm 'maxed out' as his stepdad told him:) Great post!

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  11. All boys want to be taller. I just noticed that Mike can reach the plates without climbing on the counter. I'm not happy with this. My little boy is GETTING taller.

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