The year of The Christopher Chronicles...

A friend of mine sent me a link last week to Wrinkled Mommy, a blog that is hosting a wonderful linkup.

You don't have to write anything new; no prompts. Just read and meet some bloggers you may not have stumbled upon before.

So I introduced myself last week with one of my Me, Myself and I posts. Not my best side, but the keepin' it real side. 

For this week I decided to see what was going on in my blog two years ago. This was approximately my sixth post and I had one faithful reader/commenter, my friend Antoinette Dickson, who is also a blogger and the editor of The Christopher Chronicles.

When I wrote this post, I was only taking notes from Christopher. At this time I had no idea his anecdotes would turn into a book that I would self-publish the following year. 

So here is an unmodified post from July 31, 2010 when I was fresh on the blogging scene. Christopher was five years old, and the inspiration behind many blog posts, a book and other unpublished works.

Please excuse my one whole paragraph, I have improved. I have added a follow-up using my tagline Here's the thing... because I wasn't using it then.

So anyway, I was in one of my favorite places the other day – Barnes & Noble. Preferably I enjoy it most alone, always getting a coffee and a sugar cookie. When I walk in alone its like smelling a bouquet of flowers (if you like the way flowers smell). I just inhale and say ‘aah’. It’s a moment of me time in a place filled with something that I can do all day, read and people watch. This day I was with my 5 year old son, so I say “aah” just a little because I’m on mom duty not me time. We usually can enjoy an hour or two in there, him looking at books and me reading magazines. The first stop is usually the kids section for him to grab a few books to look at. Then we head to the magazines for me to get a few to look at. Then we head to the café. He gets the orange drink, then has to pee at least 4 times while we are there. I get a half decaf coffee of the day and we split the sugar cookie. I usually get to have most of the sugar cookie because it makes his drink “taste bad”. This day we head to the kids section and walk right into a mini Toyrus! I’m exaggerating, but yeah – now there are toys in Barnes & Noble. This was the one place my son and I could go where I didn’t mind him leaving with something and he didn’t mind if he didn’t. Now they have a toy section. Seriously? C’mon. So he walks slowly by the toys and heads to the books like we always do. For some reason today he can’t find anything he really wants to look at. “Maybe we can just look at the toys for a while” he says. I pick out a couple books for him and we walk slowly by the toys again. We go back to the café and 10 mins in comes the second bathroom run (we always go there first when we get there). So we gather all our stuff to put on a shelf just outside the bathroom. We come out and he wants to trade in the books he has barely looked it. Yeah right. This time the slow stroll by the toys comes to a halt. Today I notice the volume is turned up in Barnes & Noble, where it usually feels rather peaceful. It’s like the toys have made the atmosphere unsettling. Kids are crying and some are screaming, get louder as the parents drag them out of there. There are educational games, Legos, Leap Frog, and a bunch of other toys that don’t belong in a bookstore. My son picks up a Playmobil Dragon and starts going on about how Christmas and his birthday are going to take forever. He’s suddenly unenthused as I try to show him more books that we can take back to the café. I say forget it and let’s go. We go to the bathroom one more time before we leave, while he continues asking questions about the dragon. His jaws are dragging on the floor as we leave the store, pining for a dragon he’d never seen before this day. I am pouting too because my “aah” has turned to “ugh”. My favorite place to go with or without my son is now ruined! Why B&N, why??!!

Here's the thing... we looked at the dragon every time we went to B&N thereafter, and Christopher did receive it for Christmas that year. 

Click here, to learn more about The Christopher Chronicles and to purchase a signed copy.