Nutgraf

I am super excited to announce the launch of a new feature on Nutgraf. One that, perhaps, is the best manifestation here yet of what this term means.

I’m inviting people to submit via this super exciting and easy to use online form their best advice for the next generation – currently in gestation. What mantra do you soothe yourself with late at night when you’re anxious? What aphorism gets you going in the morning? Did your uncle give you some uncannily wise advice when you graduated from high school? Is it a parenting tip? A secret to a successful marriage? A professional mantra? I want to know it all.

Tell me the stuff that you know!

I thank you for any submissions, and (with your permission) will publish highlights, so come back, send it around and encourage the smart/funny/erudite people you know to drop me a line!

To give you an idea of what I’m talking about and get the ball rolling, I present one of the first entries. This touching little number from a dear friend and colleague of many years.

Here is my best advice: No matter what you have to put down — the laundry, the laptop, even the child him/herself — drop it and grab a pen when Small One says that amazing something that you just know you will remember forever, because (trust me) you will not. In the 13-plus years that my two have been verbal, they have said things that were so hilarious, creative, tear-jerking, precocious and jaw-droppingly insightful, and those utterances remain with us today (some quoted as precious parts of family lore) only because they were written down in the moment.

I figured since both their father and I have writing backgrounds, this chronicling/transcribing would be a no-brainer, a reflexive part of parenting for me. But in retrospect, I didn’t do it as faithfully as I now wish I had — I know there were times that I thought “Gotta get that down!” but let it slide. I think it would have helped to have more of a plan, more of a system, before Claire (now pushing 15) even got here. I love seeing their words on the original notes where I jotted them — all kinds of scrappy paper, just a scrawled “Quote,” name, date — but as I never systematized where I kept the jottings, they’re now scattered all over.

So, first advice: WRITE IT IN THE MOMENT … and second, MAKE A PLACE to keep what you write. So glad I can still find a few of mine. Here’s one from Claire whe she was about four: “Look here! The shadows of my feet are my toes’ cousins!” … And one from Will when he was about 7: “Tomorrow’s the first day of summer! Skip across the room! Dive into the wildflowers!”

– Patty

Awesome, right? You want to get in on this, don’t you? Don’t be shy – click on over to the form, have a little think on it and show me what you’ve got.

I want to know the stuff that you know!

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