Parenting is one skill that none of us ever completely masters. Books on how to be a good parent line book store shelves as those with children search for the best advice on how to do the parenting job correctly. Is there any one correct way to be a parent?
A memoir about being a parent has a great many possibilities since there are so many different stories out there. A writer can tell about being a child of parents or the parent of a child. There are even the story permutations of what their own parents experienced with their parents. A memoir writer could spend a career discussing their experiences related to the world of parenting.
As with any memoir topic, the parenting stories can be sheer entertaining fun or a serious look at bad parenting or the tragedies that even good parents sometimes face. Think about your own experiences growing up. Your parents had their theories and methodology concerning raising children. Perhaps you envied a friend because they had parents who seemed so perfect. No parents are perfect just as seemingly bad parents often mean well in their efforts.
Your parenting stories might be similar to the stories that others tell or they might be completely different. Think about your stories of having parents and being a parent. What is it that others might find interesting? How might others relate to your stories? Start writing down your stories and see if the inspiration is there to write an interesting memoir about your own life experience in regard to parents and parenting.
Do you have good memories about growing up? Did your parents tell you stories about their own parents? Was there a good friend that you had whose family made you feel like you were part of their's?
I did have a best friend whose parents were mine when mine weren't available (which was a lot) I have some great stories about my kids, some of which they would kill me if I ever published them. LOL
ReplyDeleteBushman
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DeleteLee
I don't have good memories of growing up. Any memoir I wrote about my childhood would really trash my mother and her idea of 'tough love' which amounted to mental/emotional abuse. One of the many reasons I didn't want kids is that I was afraid I'd do the same thing, and I also didn't want her to do that to them either.
ReplyDeleteThat's sad to hear. Maybe there is some good in all of it somewhere that you just haven't seen yet.
DeleteLee
As wonderful a mother as I have been (why I haven't been awarded Mother of the Year is beyond me), my girls always remember my worst moments. Those are the stories they like to tell.
ReplyDelete~Visiting from AtoZ
I guess kids are like that. Then again, my mother was always good at coming up with the most embarrassing stories about me so sometimes it goes both ways.
DeleteLee
Some people have nothing but good stories of growing up, but I think more have stories with some element of despair. I don't think anyone really comes out of childhood completely unscathed.
ReplyDeleteHi Lee!
ReplyDeleteTo answer your questions...
Do you have good memories about growing up? Yes. I remember that our home was always filled with music, laughter... and books!
Did your parents tell you stories about their own parents? Yes, and there are some hilarious stories. At the ripe old age of 86 years, my mother is the eldest of 14 children, so you can imagine all the stories...
Was there a good friend that you had whose family made you feel like you were part of their's? Yes, in the close-knit type of community I grew up in, we were often in and out of each others homes...
I haven't considered writing a memoir... but I do come from a HUGE family, filled with loads of "colorful" characters, so there's no shortage of exciting material...
I've nevet considered writing a memoir because I always assumed that only celebrities wrote memoirs that people are interested in reading . I come from a large family , four sisters , all living and five brothers. Four of my brothers have passed away. The first in 1980- car accident, he had just graduated high school and qualified for the summer Olympics . My second brother and the one I was closest to and whom my daughter , Blake is named after, died in 1990 - another car accident. He was 27 and single. My third brother died in 2003, he was 29, a husband and father of four. He also died in a car accident. And my fourth brother died in 2013, from lung cancer. He was the oldest child and was married with four grown kids and several grandkids . I have a lot of amazing , crazy, weird and off the wall stories . Many of the stories about my parents would probably land parents in jail today. Just kidding - sort of. Lol.
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