A to Z: Children

I think most of us have experienced this. If not as a parent, at least as a child. You're trapped in a small enclosed space with your worst enemy (a sibling). It's a road trip. And it doesn't matter if they are trying to bug you or not -- they BUG you. At some point during the trip, you will hear someone say, "MO-OM! SHE'S LOOKING AT ME!"

We had a similar experience. We were in the car, which is much more crowded than the van. We were on a short trip... just to church.My son and daughter were rubbing elbows -- literally -- and that is NOT a good thing. He was tired and not in the mood to be trifled with, plus he was going to church -- not his favorite.

After the usually bickering about which seatbelt belonged to whom and who was touching whom(to which, of course, I had wisely replied, "Keep your hands to yourselves"), my daughter committed one final crime which could not be tolerated in even the worst of torture chambers:

"MO-OM!!! Her doll is LOOKING at me!"

Well, I'm sorry, but it was so funny I just had to laugh. I mean, her doll? That was one I had never heard. However, my laughing was also not to be tolerated (I probably did overdo it a bit-- but, dang it, that was funny!).

In utter exasperation, my son turned his anger on me, "MOM, THAT IS ZERO PER CENT FUNNY!"

Kids... you gotta love 'em!

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Touring Innocent Tears with Iris Blobel

Thank you, Laura, for having me today on your blog, and a big hello to all your readers. My current story is called Innocent Tears and this is what it’s all about:

Becoming a parent can be daunting at the best of times, but for Flynn, a business lawyer in Melbourne, it almost pulls the feet from right underneath him. He’s become a father to six-year-old Nadine literally overnight! He had no idea about her existence, and the news throws him into chaos, even more so when he is asked to take over custody.

With the help of Emma, an employee at the hotel where Nadine and her grandparents are staying, and his parents, Flynn tries to do the right thing. Yet, the right thing in his eyes differs from his parents’, and Emma is voicing her opinion as well. And right in the middle is little Nadine, still grieving the loss of her mother and finding a wonderful friend in Emma. There’s no doubt she’s afraid where and with whom she will settle.

But in the end, it’s a letter Flynn receives that helps him figure out what to do.

So I thought I’d give you a bit of a guided picture tour through the story and with that through Melbourne, the capital of Victoria and where Innocent Tears is set. Enjoy!

Whenever Flynn needs to sort his thoughts, he looks out of his window and watches the world go by... along the river at the famous “Southbank”.

The first time he spends some time with Nadine and Emma, they take the tram to go to St Kilda Beach.

Well, these ones still exist, but they’re doing the “circle hoop” and not going anywhere near St Kilda. So, they actually took one of those trams:

And this is where they had their lunch. Wouldn’t you like to have lunch at a place like that. But .... hmmm ... looking at the sky, well, they say, Melbourne is famous for the four seasons in one day. I suppose that would’ve been “autumn” that day.

After the initial helplessness, Flynn received help from his parents, who live here:

Flynn not only receives parental advice, but also some time to think, while his parents take little Nadine to where he grew up –Tasmania:

But in the end it’s a simple letter that helps him make a decision, the probably most important one of his life!

Hope you enjoyed this little introduction to my adopted home. Thank you, all, for taking your time to stop by, I appreciate it!

And thank you, Iris, for taking the time to guide us on that gorgeous tour of your setting! I loved having you visit inklings today!

Where you can buy Innocent Tears by Iris Blobel:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Smashwords