NovWriMo Plus Forum

Yes Phoenix,
Spiders can be fun. At a course for teaching assistants and Special Educational Needs helpers, we had to make a puppet out of a wooden spoon and pipe-cleaners and I made a spider with multicoloured legs and glittery antennae. My younger son chose to make a furry spider when we had a parent-and-child mini-beast craft day at his last school so that influenced me, especially because his head-teacher said she didn't like spiders but some of the children at a nursery (where I was on placement) used to ask me to draw webs and spiders. Actually, I think I might use my spider-puppet in one of my stories and my son's spider might fit in the other.

Pokemon, etc: My Pokemon son is also very interested in Transformers, birds of prey and other birds, Yu-Gi-Oh cards and several other subjects so we do get a variety of lecture-topics. My older son gets embarrassed about his brother playing with toys so we've started calling his toys "collections", such as his Captain Scarlet "collection". A friend's 15-year-old autistic son still plays with his Thomas the Tank Engine toys and, in some ways, it's nice if they don't have to try to grow up before they're ready

I think, to an extent, most of us are influenced by outside pressures when we choose our interests so many people buy toys and games for children because they secretly wish they could have them for themselves. When I lived at my mother's house, I had the best of both worlds because I could fill my room with toys and games and childrens books and films for my nieces and nephews and then when I came home from work, the toys etc would be rearranged so I had the pleasure of seeing they'd been played with.

I haven't seen your October goals. Are you consolidating your book now?
Have fun,
Cathie