I’m Moving!

April 7, 2009 By 47 Comments

“The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover is yourself.”

~ Alan Alda

work_life-copyWriter Dad has been one of the most unexpected and edifying adventures to ever sweep through my life with a torrent of sudden change, hope, and revelation.

The site was started as a time capsule, capturing five thoughts per week, each spooled into 500 words or so.

I’ve discussed being a writer, being a dad, and other assorted escapades as I bandied about the online world, but behind it all this stoop has always been about my family; the legacy I leave and stories I wish to pass. Writer Dad has focused on fatherhood with well written tales about all the big and small that orbits my life.

The problem is, as long as this site is  my predominant dwelling, it is also the lone fabric for every thread that requires stitching. Writer Dad is all ME, but it isn’t ALL OF ME.

I now need a new front stoop where other sides of my self can wander out to play.

I need a spot where I can spit business, but Writer Dad isn’t it. I enjoy talking shop, rapping about my various projects, and discussing all that’s working and all that isn’t. Yet those topics probably were never right for this audience to begin with and are now off key enough to sour the tune. I prefer my music sweet.

Allow me to tell you about a new baby and a wee toddler.

First off is a project that’s been percolating since there was turkey in the oven and Christmas around the corner.

David Wright (Blogger Dad) and I are opening the doors of a brand new business – an online shop fusing what we each do well and then taking it to remarkable by doing it in tandem. But it isn’t just a storefront, it is a site committed to the creativity of blogging and the content to reflect it. The site will appeal to anybody out there who blogs or wants to blog outside the lines. The business itself will highlight an entire menu of creative services from web copy to custom graphics.

Dave is one of the most talented, funny, and overall amazing people I’ve ever met. He is my favorite person to write with and our first collaborative narrative will be featured on the site in weekly installments of aggregating awesome.

We’ll lift the curtain on that baby next Monday.

This site, my first online baby is now ready to toddle about while I sit on the couch pretending to read a magazine. From now on, Writer Dad will post twice a week and excel at what it’s always done best. I’m sorry for any times I’ve tried to cram too much into this little space, but now it can linger in what it was always meant to be. I love the idea of giving my posts a few more days to breathe. Too often I’ve felt the sting of pouring my heart into a post that is set to decay just twenty-five hours past the original point of publish. With a few days breath, comments can swell, conversation can linger, and the yawning thoughts I leave to forever no longer need fall from the front page in such a hurry.

On Friday I’d like to publish a few of my favorite posts from the last seven months. After that, I’ll see you next week for Writer Dad 2.0

Also, what was started as a niche site with Ghostwriter Dad is slowly evolving into something else. I guess it’s too difficult for me to just write about something and forget it. Ghostwriter Dad was a place for me to drop keyword posts to target search engine traffic. It turns out, now that I’m a ghostwriter, I’ve got plenty to say. I’ll be writing about ghostwriting once a week. You can grab the feed here.

Thank you everyone for everything. The first draft of Writer Dad was remarkable. If you have anything to offer regarding the old, any suggestions with respect to the new, or a favorite post you’d like to see highlighted on Friday, I’d love to let hear it in the comments.

Writer Dad

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I’m Back!

February 25, 2009 By 32 Comments

YAY!!! I’m back.

I meant to return on Monday, but a broken modem has kept me out of commission until now.

I would like to improve my online speaking. As you can clearly see from the avalanche of um’s and ah’s that litter the video below, I am far from comfortable. However, I do believe it’s a necessary skill for the world that is waiting, and the only way to get better at something is to go ahead and do it.

I hope the video is less painful to watch then it was to record.

I’ve also installed a plugin which facilitates video comments. Of course written comments are always welcome, I just wanted to spice things up a bit. I’ll likely respond to comments with a combination of both.

I spent some of my time away visiting new bloggers. Here are a handful who left an impression.

Answer Starts With You, Joyful Days, Simply Blog, From Single to Married, Kid Kaizen, Elder Guru, The Arthur Clan, Insert Profundity, David McMahon, and Think Maya. Yes, Friar, I do realize I returned with a link roundup.

Maya, by the way, gave me a wonderful idea last week. She suggested I spend an hour on Twitter answering potty training questions. I’m listening to her sound advice and will be on Twitter between 10:00-11:00 PST on Friday answering anything that has to do with pee pee or poo poo.

There will be a guest post tomorrow, and an excerpt from Four Seasons on Friday. Daily delight will resume on Monday.

It’s great to be back,

Writer Dad

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Running Dialogue

February 16, 2009 By 40 Comments

gone fishingHappy belated Valentine’s to all.

This past Saturday I finished a three day shift at my family’s flower shop. It was my final stint and only a few minutes until midnight for my dad and sister. We opened in 1980. The doors will be closing in March.

The store is the childhood I ran through. The shopping center is where I played guns at eight and then stole kisses at twice that; the grounds where my sister and I would sometimes frolic and sometimes fight. “The big giant grassy mountain” (barely to my knee, but once a place to hide when not being sought) is still there, though the bookstore where I read everything from Dr. Suess to Stephen King has already been gone a while.

The store is also my story – much of it anyway. It’s where I learned to be a grown-up, met my wife, and drew curtains on the first major act of my life.

It was necessary that I work the holiday; important to say good-bye, but three days away from the web I haven’t done since back in December, well before I was a ghostwriter. Three days gone has accumulated and I need to catch my breath. I am building things that need the eye of a carpenter rather than the conveyor belt of an assembly line.

There are a couple of things I’m excited to discuss, but not eager enough to rush. I want to write, but require time to reflect. I don’t want to publish just to publish on Writer Dad, so until I catch up a bit, I need to recede.

I’m imagining this will take the rest of the week, but I’m not sure and it might bleed into the next. I do have a guest post scheduled and may pop in here and there, but until everything due is everything done, I’m hanging a Gone Fishing sign on the door.

I know Friar’s probably rolling his eyes at a blogger announcing his absence. Believe me dude, I’m with you, but I promise it relates.

Until I return to regular posting, I would like to keep a running dialogue in the comments. If you have anything to ask or add, please drop a comment and I’ll be checking in regularly.

If I am collaborating with you in any capacity, please don’t be shy. Same goes if you have anything you’d like to say specifically off comments. My inbox is still totally open, but every email takes at least a couple of minutes. For now, if you have a question you think others might like to know the answer to as well, please consider using the comments, at least until I catch up.

Thanks for everything, and I will see you soon.

Writer Dad

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The Blueprint is Here

February 2, 2009 By 19 Comments

“This is not a technical, step-by-step, cut to the chase kind of book, it is a gentle introduction to the world of blogging. The rich conversational nature quickly draws you in and keeps you reading.”

~ Marc, Welshscribe

bbbook340Happy Monday Everyone!

Since I opened up my office with Eric over at the Blogopolis Blueprint, I keep the blogging blah to a minimum around Writer Dad Ranch, but I’d be awfully remiss if I didn’t spread some enthusiasm today.

Today marks the official launch of the Blueprint.  The Blogopolis Blueprint is a beautifully written e-book, focused on the art of blogging and quickly finding your voice within it.

Eric and I have been working on this book since my children were still deciding what they should be for Halloween.  It has seen multiple revisions until it finally felt as sanded as well finished furniture.

There are three components to the the product.

1) The book – The book itself is 48 pages of engaging conversation; not a dry page in the entire PDF.  The prose is well articulated and the design beautiful.  Tremendous care was given to each idea and image, resulting in a rarity among e-books.

2) The workbook - The primary book is a bit right brained and really relaxed, so we wrote the workbook as the opposite, taking the same information and synthesizing it in a linear way to give the reader a line item view of what they’ve read.  This affords them an easy avenue for rapid review.

3) The blog boot-up guide. This boot-up guide is a 30 page primer, pronouncing everything needed for starting a blog, from choosing a theme to selecting a host.  This guide is written with an even measure of conversational advice and straight talking bullet points.

4)  Eric’s bookmarks. Eric has compiled his blogging bookmarks, gathered across the last half year, then exported them into a file, easily uploaded into Firefox or Safari.  This is an invaluable, one of a kind resource.

The Blueprint isn’t for everyone.

  • If you do not have a blog or have no intention of starting a blog, this product is not for you.
  • If you are looking for a step by step guide that lays every brick in the road, this product is not for you.
  • If you want a book that tells you how to make money blogging, this product is not for you.
  • If you have been blogging for several months already, this product is not for you.

If you are looking for a fantastic resource that drops you in a discussion with the authors about the nature of blogging, and their methods for spreading voice, then this product is most certainly for you.

Eric and I both read a lot of material before starting our blogs.
We wrote the book we wished we would have read.

If you are about to start a blog, are in the process of starting a blog, or have recently started a blog (within the last few months), this product is absolutely worth the price of a nice dinner for two.

The Blogopolis Blueprint is $49 and has an absolute, no questions asked, 100% money back guarantee.  All it takes is an email request within 30 days of purchase.  You don’t even have to say please (though good manners are always nice).

Oh, and did I mention the Blueprint also has full email support?  Finding your voice is hard.  It’s easier with a little help.

ENJOY:  Add to Cart

The Blueprint also has an affiliate program with a 40% payout.

Enjoy the Blueprint!  It’s awesome and one.

Writer Dad

As a ghostwriter, I can also write your ebook, blog posts, or SEO web copy.

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Reading Online, Chew Before You Swallow

January 27, 2009 By 59 Comments

I first discussed reading online in a post called swallowing without chewing, way back in September.  I spent this last weekend trying to dive nose deep into a novel, and thought it an apt time to revisit those words.

reading onlineWhen I first started reading online, I allowed my eyes to gracefully bob across every set of syllables.  Not anymore.  Now I gobble as quickly as I can, as though words were the last hot waffles coming from a kitchen only two minutes shy of closing.

It’s only when reading online.  I couldn’t ever imagine reading a book in such a manner.

Can you?  Really?

For me, the difference is day and night.  A book isn’t something to barrel through without looking.  It’s a first date; meandering, musing and mindful.  Reading online is like racing home during rush hour.

When I crack the back of a novel’s spine, I long to get lost in the story.

When I lift the lid of my laptop, I expect to consume specifics, digesting data like a famished wolverine, swallowing without chewing as I bounce from one blog to the next in a deranged dash against myself to see how quickly I can consume the copious amounts of text.

I am not condemning this conduct.  A large part of my learning takes place while I’m reading online, and I’m certain I fall to sleep slightly smarter than when I woke nearly every morning, but it would be a fact ofmy ow  fiction if I were to say I wasn’t brushing off a chill as I pondered the information overload my children will be staring down in another ten years.

What will reading online be like for them?  Witness the evolution of just a few scant years.  A healthy portion of kids just off to college have no recall of life before our online ubiquity, what will it be like for those in diapers now?

My hopes climb the sky.

I believe there is a major sea change sitting just beyond the bend.  Our educational institutions will soon wake up and realize they are teaching in a way that was out of date back when I was sitting at the back of the class designing ways to torment my teachers.

The web is still in diapers.  Together, we share the task of raising it.   As we shape an alternate horizon, so we shape ourselves.  My children see me staring at the screen of my laptop while I’m reading online, but I make sure, at least once a day, they also see me with a book in my hands and a satisfied smile sitting on my face.

The internet is astounding and reading online a joy, but we must never abandon the road that brought it to us.

Writer Dad

Sean Platt is a writer living in Long Beach and creative blogger.

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SEO Content? Maybe…

January 19, 2009 By 22 Comments

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”

~Victor Frankl

Today’s Deja Vuesday travels back a few months to when I first discussed SEO content.   I’ve learned a lot since then, and my perspective has certainly shifted, marking this as a post definitely worth revisiting.

In the comments that day, I first met Susan Green, an excellent copywriter who has helped me on many occasions.  She first articulated the value of SEO content that day, and has continued to remind me of its value ever since.

Let’s wind back the clock and see what I once said about SEO content….

seo contentI don’t write SEO content or throw attention at keywords.  I hope I never feel the need to stray from such straightforward guidelines, at least not while writing for Writer Dad.

I can almost hear the collective gasp from the probloggers.

I’m not trying to argue, merely stating what works for me – writing SEO content isn’t it. Before starting a blog, I did my due diligence.

I read Darren’s book, and clearly understood the importance of SEO content and keywords.

During my first two weeks of posting, I stuck to those principles.  I would outline ideas, title included, draw the keywords I needed, and then scribble my thoughts around them.

It was backwards and I knew it.  I abandoned the practice of designing my drafts around SEO content by my third week.

Writing SEO content, I’ve no doubt, dulls the voice.  Now, when I pen a post, I sit at the keys with a vague idea of how I’d like to spit.  Words spill.   Only when finished, do I read the post to see what keywords I might gather.  I then decide on a title, an appropriate quote, and a picture to give all the black and white a little splash of color.

Like advertising, or pretty much anything else, I’ve no issue with SEO content.  I understand the mathematics, and am positive that the future will find me developing sites where writing for the deities of search engine optimization is entirely necessary.

When that day comes, I’ll design my words around SEO content accordingly.

The hallways of the internet blare with a billion echoes.  Like life, it takes courage to think different.  It’s hard to claim a niche when I consider myself an expert at nothing.  I don’t want to pen SEO content packed lists telling others how to live their lives when I’m still working full time on my own.

When I write,  I want someone to feel a silhouette of my thought.  Even with a full understanding that my words will be mostly forgotten within thirty-six hours of broadcast, I write them with everything I have.

My children will one day comb through my archives; I write for them, not the SEO content they will never be looking for.

If Writer Dad is my chance to touch our most local universe, then I wish to use my most genuine voice, rather than one designed to capture the attention of the Googlebots who crawl across my verbiage.

When you have language, you can skip rope.  Do I really want to skip with SEO?

Content comes first.

Writer Dad

Update: I’m now a ghostwriter who pens fantastic SEO content and blog posts for a living. Click here to hire a gifted ghostwriter.

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Having Fun with SEO Content

January 18, 2009 By 43 Comments

I Love Having Fun with SEO Content!

SEO ContentWhen’s the last time you heard someone say that?  Though I have been having a whole lot of fun in the lab with my mad scientist SEO experiments, I admit it, I only said it for the keywords.  It’s also why it looks so giant.  H2 hurts my eyes, but Google loves SEO content when it’s all big and bold.

I’m running with a new series on Writer Dad.  For those readers who are not bloggers, or for those bloggers with no use for these mathematics, my apologies, but I’m about to blah blah blog for a little bit.  My new once post per week series is called:

SEO Content as Art.

Or something like that.  The name is certainly subject to change.  Long time readers are familiar with the many lanes of my learning curve.  I want to learn it all, and want to learn it well.  My enthusiasm sometimes sends me bounding beyond my borders instead of greeting them at a more reasonable speed.  Falling on my face always hurts a lot more when I’m running too fast, yet only now am I learning to slow down.

The last time we talked about SEO content (in a post titled SEO I don’t think so), I professed that although I would surely have many sites where SEO content was of utmost importance,  at least while writing for Writer Dad I wanted to ignore its restrictions.  This is still largely true, but I have to amend a few of my thoughts about SEO content.

SEO content affects every blogger in some way.  How much we pay attention to is entirely up to each of us.  I chose to ignore SEO content for a long time, but now it’s time to change my game for some of my work.  I would like to take a subject that affects all us blah blah bloggers and explore it well.

I launched my first niche site last week for parents needing potty training help.  It’s a fantastic product and I couldn’t be prouder, but that means exactly nothing if I can’t build the best roads to find it.  I’m a writer.  The best way for me to get people there is by the precision of my words.  I must learn to shoot SEO content like an arrow from a quiver.  In a world where people ask Google when they need an answer to a question, I must know how to answer and, more importantly, anticipate their questions.  How do I do that?

SEO content.

Of my online endeavors, Writer Dad has the most authority.  This makes it the best place for me to experiment.  The challenge is to try to learn as much as I can while making the process as engaging for my audience as possible.

One day per week, I’m going to run an article engineered with SEO content as I try to rank for a particular keyword or keyword phrase.  I will try to make it as entertaining for the reader as possible, while being informative for those bloggers interested in the process.

Here’s how the SEO content will work.

I’ll write my post packed with specific SEO content.  In the comments, I’ll articulate what keyword or keyword phrases I’m trying to rank for, and then report how I’m doing along with the tweaks I’ve made to improve the ranking.  Anyone who has suggestions is welcome to cast them.  I see this as an excellent opportunity to learn about SEO content together.

Learning to write effective SEO content is like being given the keys to the kingdom.  If I want to spend my days puling the most creativity from the depths of my mind, I must build a business instead of a job.  To do that, I must be able to manufacture the best SEO content I can.

Cart meet horse.

On a related note, Potty Training Power is on page two of Google for the search phrase “Potty Training Help,” after only a week.  That’s after half a weak tweaking the SEO content.  Though I’m highly encouraged by early success, I have to hand a round of thanks to anyone who linked to the site.  The incoming links haven’t kicked into the dashboard yet (blah blah blog) but I know that wouldn’t have been possible without a lot of friendly invisibles, so giant thanks to everyone who helped me out.

Thanks again, and I promise to make the SEO content a lot of fun.  This week’s is scheduled for Wednesday.

Until Tomorrow,

Writer Dad

I’m a gifted ghostwriter who makes all writing fun. From blog posts to ebooks, click on the link to hire a ghostwriter today!

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Blogopolis Broadcast

January 5, 2009 By 27 Comments

“I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow.”

~Abraham Lincoln

bpadd160Best. Vacation. Ever.  I am now well rested and ready for ’09.

I hope everyone had a wonderful vacation.  Again, my thanks for all the well wishes over the last two weeks.  It was an unexpected aggregate of kindness.

For the past three months, I’ve been collaborating with Eric Hamm of “Motivate Thyself.”  Even if nothing more than a single email traded, collaboration has been a daily constant. Our exchanges have amounted to many piles on the drawing board, the first now ready to lose its veil. We’ve teased this project for a month, all the while working to make it unique.

A year ago, I had no idea I would ever blog; the word still funny when I’d only been writing a half handful of months. Cut to early summer and I traded most of my offline reading in favor of new, exciting online authors and I started to toy with the idea of building a blog of my own.

By the end of summer, my whys had turned into why nots. Writer Dad was born.

The last half year has flown by; never before have I lost my minutes to months with such speed.  I drew a lot of lessons in that short time and have a clear understanding of what I want in this new year. Much of what I’ve found about blogging along the way has been shared in these pages. Now, however, I feel as though those lessons feel somehow out of place, perhaps impeding the most natural direction for my first online home.

Eric and I are sharing office space at the Blogopolis Blueprint, the website we’ve spent the last two months building.  Since I would like you to click over and check out my goofy mug in motion,  I won’t be redundant.

I will say our site aims to be far more than just another blog about blogging. We learn from experience and share what we’ve learned through a well articulated stream of writing and video.

No one could have seen this coming, the year that just whizzed by me.  This year promises just as many surprises.  My first ’09 adventure starts here, at the Blogopolis Blueprint.

Be there from the beginning.

Writer Dad

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Motivation: The Essential Ingredient For New Year Aspirations

December 29, 2008 By 46 Comments

“Motivation is when your dreams put on work clothes.”

~Author Unknown

Happy Monday everyone!  It’s almost New Years, a grand time to talk about motivation.  Who better to discuss the subject than the motivation expert, Eric Hamm?  Please enjoy.  I’ll be back tomorrow and through the remainder of the week.

motivationWhen I started “Motivate Thyself” in late July, I was of the mindset that our lack of motivation was at the core of our societal frustrations.  I thought we were somehow capable of accomplishing our every goal and dream, just not willing enough.  After almost a half year of blogging on motivation, I must admit – this idea is now devout belief.  The difference is now I understand my own struggle with the motivation.  It’s one thing to scream from the mountain tops at a high point in our lives, another to repeat ourselves a week later when we’re not feeling the motivation in quite the same way.

We often ask how to motivate yourself, but the end of the year especially.

As the New Year draws closer to the present, many of us will start thinking about the areas of our lives that need our attention.  Common thoughts focus on exercise, diet, career, etc…  We look at the change in the final digit as a new start, and hope that THIS year will be different.  Thankfully, we often do inch forward by learning from our past, but these changes are often short sighted and quickly fade as the first few pages of the calendar are flipped.

This year CAN be different.  ’09 has the potential to be the best year yet, but it isn’t going to happen unless you manage your motivation, and never lose the hunger for positive change.

The Magic of Motion

In the first month of blogging I found I could keep my adrenaline pumping with ease.  It was the second and third months that threatened to mute my motivation.  I found it impossible to ALWAYS maintain enthusiasm about a project or particular habit, but keeping my wheels spinning was essential.

Let’s use our imaginations:

You are driving to Bob and Betty’s house to celebrate New Years.  You decide to take a shortcut, convinced you know precisely where you’re going.  You veer from the road, but after a few miles you realize the shortcut is nothing more than a path to somewhere OTHER THAN Bob and Betty’s.  You are lost, without a clue how to get back to the beaten path.

What do you do?  Pull over to the side of the road and ponder your bearings?  Do you get angry, yell at everyone in the car, and tell them THEY are somehow to blame?  Or do you keep moving forward, adjusting direction until you find your way back to familiar road?

Motivation is not just a feeling inside us.  It is an ACTION; a verb that translates mediocrity into excellence.  To bring any sort of consistent growth into our lives, we must harness the magic of motion as we seek the correct coordinates.

The Magic of Motivation

Motivation has gotten a bad rap over the years.  Visions of ‘Motivation Gurus’ swinging their fists and screaming, “YOU CAN DO IT!!!” over and over sends shivers down the spine.  Blindly running as fast as we can while never looking back, let alone forward, is not productivity.  Yet, this is what some promote and many attempt.

Motivation is a simple ingredient.  Like salt, it’s purpose is to enhance the flavor of our lives.  Without it, we risk living each day blandly going through the motions.  With it, ANYTHING is possible.

We can…

  • Further our education, regardless of age and/or financial situation.
  • Start the business we’ve always dreamed of.
  • Travel to places that we never thought we’d see.
  • Change our lives for the better, each and every day.

Motivation won’t magically make this happen.  We must learn new things, grow more flexible, and put in the time to pay our dues.  Motivation isn’t the engine that propels the car, but the fuel that feeds it.  Without fuel, we have only a capable engine, sitting idle.

Make It Happen In ’09

I don’t question the aspirations of the human race.  I have no doubt we all dream of greatness in our lives.  It’s our lack of resolve to keep putting one foot in front of the other that seems to keep us from accomplishing the majority of our must-dos.

I’m sure there are many of you who have no problem maintaining motivation.  To you, I encourage consistent assessment of your direction.  It’s just as easy to go nowhere when you’re moving as it is parked by the roadside.  To those who struggle with motivation, I’d ask that you take a close look at the fuel you are feeding your engine.  Physical, mental, spiritual, whatever.  Make sure you’re not keeping your foot on the breaks by the habits you hold to.

Whichever camp you tend to live, this can be your year.  We ALL have the potential for great things; our goals, there for the taking.  It is simply a matter of constantly pushing forward, re-dialing our daily direction, and making our motivation a priority.

Eric

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Deja Vuesday 2.0

December 16, 2008 By 17 Comments

“The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play.”

~Arnold Toynbee

2385134555_2f04615e90I love the concept of Deja Vuesday – not the execution. The point, for me, was to revisit an old piece of writing and measure its relevance against the me in a new moment.

I am grateful for the wonderful technology that makes it possible, and even simple, to record my thoughts once a day and know that I’ve made a tiny permanent stamp on at least a fragment of forever. I am sad that the same technology has dimmed our ability to savor.

The short little introductions on Tuesdays aren’t cutting it. I’m not saying much of anything, and probably taking way too long to say it. The percentage of readers that click through is relatively small, and I’m sure I can do better.

I’m still going to do Deja Vuesday – but different.  I’ll return to an old piece, now with a rewrite. I believe there’s tremendous value in an edit, especially with distance.

We are never exactly the same person twice; too much happens in between the hours.

The root of thought is found in articulation.  Reading is one thing, revisiting another.

There are only four more days until our preschool finds a cocoon and we face a monumental shift in our existence.  Telling our families was one thing, telling our children was a different one entirely.

Today we are revisiting “Pancake Wednesday.“  Please enjoy.

Pancake Tavern, a small restaurant by our house, has been our haunt for seven years.  It’s the sort of place that does a few things well, rather than plenty that only play at  par.  Though I prepare a large plate of pancakes for the preschoolers every Wednesday, I always order a stack of flapjacks at the tavern anyway.

For years, our Sunday ritual was a stroll to the restaurant, streets still empty; holding hands, counting sparrows, and playing “I Spy.”  Early, we’d slip into an empty booth,  indulge, than walk off a few mouthfuls of our meal.

Time has marched and we’ve gone less, but the ritual’s never vanished.

When our children are grown, flipping pancakes or holding menus for their little ones, a single memory from any one of several dozen scrumptious Sundays will certainly seize their senses.

One more than most.

We went to the Tavern two months back to turn a page in our story.  The time before that was Labor Day weekend, the restaurant’s final hours in its first location.  It was so hot outside, we didn’t order coffee.  That morning two months ago, the first nip of the changing season chewed our ears as we stepped between the fallen leaves.

We strolled to the new spot.  There, outside on the Tavern’s new patio, we told Max and Mia that we were closing our preschool.

Daisy and I crafted the moment to tell our children the news.  We were delicate in how we transitioned our families.  Our children deserved the same consideration for a succession of moments that would gum in their minds forever.

In preschool that month, we taught that life is filled with changes.  Max sat for every lesson, fingers folded, as he learned about getting bigger and moving on to something better.  He was ready at the restaurant when he unfolded his hands and asked, “Why did the Pancake Tavern get different?”

“Because they wanted to move to someplace bigger,” Mia said.  She didn’t so much as pause the pink pencil that was passing over her picture.

I squeezed Daisy’s hand.

“Why do you think they wanted something bigger?” I said.

Mia looked up from her drawing. “Because they wanted to serve more people, and make more money.”

Bingo.

We explained that we were closing our preschool, so we could reach more students through the computer.

Mia was a million miles over the moon; maybe more.  Max just stared past us toward the passerby on the sidewalk, as if they might be able to tell him whether or not he would see his friends the following summer.

“What are you thinking?” Daisy touched his cheek after a quiet moment, then pulled his face toward her.

“Will we still have Pancake Wednesdays?” Wednesdays, said an octave higher.

“Of course,” I said. “We’ll always have Pancake Wednesdays.”

Mia put her arms around her brother then kissed him on his forehead.  “What color do you want your new room to be?”

“BLUE,” he squealed.

It was pivotal that Mia understand.  Max is a slow burn, and Mia’s influence often channels heat.

Every transition isn’t wonderful, but we’re more likely to move forward when we step inside our purpose.  These days are the end of something wonderful and the start of something better.

Post Script:  Max adjusted like magic.  He still celebrates every student during our opening, even though we are down to a single family.  He calls each one by name and imagines what “manager” they would be if they were there.

Writer Dad

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