Father Knows Best

As I prepared for college, there was some dispute about what my profession was to be. I wanted to major in Literature and write. My dad said I needed to do something more practical, like teach. I started down the path of education, but much to my dismay, the children in my practicums knew nothing! It was very disheartening. I switched to secondary education because surely, they would know more. Alas, how discouraging it was to find out they knew too much. I was unable to really impart any knowledge to them because they knew everything. I faltered in college, just at the end. I never finished and this was after transferring schools and changing my major several times.

I still have nightmares about college. In my dreams, I have missed most of the semester of a class but am still required to show up for the final. I am an adult, moving back to the dorms to finish my degree. I seek out people who can tell me how many more classes I need for my degree to be complete. I usually awaken from these dreams feeling regret sitting on my chest, smiling at me and then, like the Cheshire cat, fading away into the morning sunlight.

Lately, my dad has been on me to use my writing talents. I am one of the founding members (and COO) of the Patronik-Carbajal family, in charge of wrangling our three kids and otherwise managing daily activities. I have (what seems like) no time to delve back into the writer inside.

But my dad is persistent. Always has been. So I'm starting a fresh, new blog. I'm going to relay funny experiences about my kids. I plan on recording their various deep thoughts and malapropisms. And, late at night (like it is now), I will sit in front of my computer and try to unravel my creative self. It will probably take a while. I remember the old Heinz ketchup bottles, the glass ones. You had to hold the bottle at an angle and wait for the ketchup to make it's way to the opening. In particularly stubborn cases, you had to hit the bottle with the butt of your hand. That's how I think about my dad--he was waiting for me to start using this talent and then realized I needed the encouragement to start pouring out.

I can't promise anything interesting will make it's way out, but just in case, my blog is here to catch it.