Family Write Night is a Mighty Writers workshop that we stopped in for this evening, and, because they were short-handed, it was also my first official experience as a volunteer Teachers Assistant. I didn’t do much but hand out paper and get some people snacks and help clean up — but for me, this still marks a break in months and months of being the person needing help, and being, again, the person who can help. And boy, is that a big red-letter day.

Because it’s been such a challenging year with so many big changes, I’ve made adjustments in homeschooling so that we aren’t pressed to do a ton of creative projects (we are doing them, just not forcing them), and making sure we have room to hold space for big feelings. This has developed the year, organically, into a more literary one — more reading (both quietly and out loud, all lounging together); more trips to the library; more creative writing and journaling. Also, more watching the dramatic adaptations spawned from the stories we read. Tonight, was a few episodes of a BBC series produced in the 1980’s, considered to be one of the best Robin Hood adaptations out there: “Robin of Sherwood”.

That’s what we watched tonight, after Family Write Night. The best writing that came out of that workshop is pretty personal — as a family writing together might be. I look forward to going again.