March ended and I let out a deep breath. I wrote for thirty one days. I posted thirty one posts on my own blog and more than that on our school blog. I was ready for a break.

But, when I flipped the calendar to April, I remembered that my daughters slice in April. When I asked if they wanted to continue this year, Wren for her fourth year and Adi for her second year, they both said yes. Then, Rose chimed in. She wanted to write too.

I took a deep breath. Here we go. I dug out the Chromebook I buried, trying to suppress the memory of distance learning. I set up another writer on my laptop. I grabbed a marker and made homemade writing paper for Rose. It was Saturday morning and all three girls were writing.

I was grateful April 1st fell on a Saturday. There they were, Adi happily typing at the kitchen island, Wren concentrating across from her, and me sitting next to Rose, coaching her through the writing process. I couldn’t imagine this scene on a busy school night.

Sunday, when I reminded the girls about their writing, they all happily set up again, each finding a spot around the kitchen. “What do I write now?” Adi asked. “Nothing good happened yet.” We talked through some options, and I reminded her that she doesn’t have to write something that happened that day.

Rose started rehearsing a story that sounded pretty much the same as the day before. “I woke up…” We tried out a few different ways she might begin her story before she settled on an idea. Wren just typed away, once again in her own zone, no longer requiring the same coaching she once did. I remember when she first started, she dictated so many of her pieces to me. Now, I get to read when she hits publish.

It’s Monday night, and all three girls have published three pieces. That feels like something. As I sit back and watch them write, the atmosphere isn’t that different than the writing workshop small group I sliced about myself a few weeks ago. A few kids gathered in a quiet space, all in different places in their writing process. I’m unsure how many days will look like this as April progresses. I also don’t know how many more years they will all sit down and write together, just for fun.

For now, I welcome the added challenge this writing challenge will bring to our days, and I am grateful that there is a writing workshop humming along in my kitchen.

If you’d like to check out the girls’ blogs, here are their links. They love to see how many people have visited their blogs. Wren has clued them in, “When mom shares our links on her blog, we get way more readers.”

Wren’s Tweets

A Slice of Adi

Rose Writes