Writing a book can become complicated when your children assign other jobs to you.

This morning, Ellie wanted to be a news “recorder.” I didn’t have the heart to correct her as she’s still recovering from whether a patron visits a Doctor’s office and a patient eats at a restaurant, or the other way around.

With her four coloured pen and spiral pad with the three dimensional dog optically illuding me from the front cover, she was recording the number of people she saw wearing flip-flops and needed my undivided attention to either alert her of a spotting of the open-toed shoes or help with documenting when the numbers grew higher than eleven.

She also wanted to journal her “moves.” I quickly learned a “move” is any movement she makes that differs from walking. They can be subtle actions like a pointed toe, a pinky finger in the air, a furled brow. It required focus, energy and skill to quickly and efficiently capture each and every nuance. We made it to 200 in no time and thankfully, her attention drifted to the next project.

I was reminded of a few short days ago when she assigned our roles for make believe. “Mommy, you are the student and I am the teacher, the mother and your best friend.”  I paused for a moment and looked at her with delight. I thought that was a wonderful metaphor for life, for parents, for mommies and daughters. She was my teacher. She was my mother. She was my best friend. Circle of life.

Moments later, Ellie announced, “All aboard!” and I thought the game had shifted and that we were now at the train station. I shouted, “Choo choo!” thinking I was playing along and she looked at my angrily.

“Mommy, this is the school bus! (as if I was supposed to know that) I told you at the beginning! I am your teacher, your mommy and your bus driver!”