My Creation

[Wendy Farkas]

My Hypertextopia story is complete! Hooray! The title is "Having Kids." Julie M. and I have been working together, and I have to say it has really been a wonderful collaboration. Today I added lots of links that provide more details, insights and reflections on my story. This truly is MY story. The neat thing about Hypertextopia that I took advantage of is the possibility of creating different branches to our stories. I learned over my lifetime so far that you really need to approach life with a sense of humor and one branch of my story reflects this. On the other hand, the other branch of my story is quite introspective and looks back on my life as a child (which we all always will be) and how that shaped my approach to parenting and my life as a parent (which I will always be).

When Julie read my story, she felt like we must be soul sisters - she said she felt as though she was reading her own story. I guess misery loves company because this made me feel really good - despite how unfortunate our early circumstances were. I feel badly for her, but I am also proud of how despite my upbringing, I feel like I turned into a good person.

Please read both branches of the story - it doesn't matter in what order - and comment. I would greatly appreciate your feedback.

[Donna]

Hi, I am just visiting from the Penn State Lehigh Valley Writing Project.

I am not a mother (not really my choice), but I do have 3 dogs (the youngest is a 4 month old puppy. The puppy has taken over our family room and the dining room and living room have been blocked off.

I would love to share your story with my Parenting students. They think having a baby is like carrying around a doll to show off. I have an electronic baby that I set to "easy" and many students return it to me and claim they told their parents they are not having children.

Keep on writing!

[Kevin H.]

Hi
I am just visiting from the Western Mass Writing Project.
As a dad of three, I enjoyed your story.
I liked how your voice shifted a bit with the linked asides -- it felt more like we were sitting around, drinking a beer and chatting.
The main trunk of the story seemed a bit more formal to me.
Thanks for sharing (and go ahead and get a dog)
:)

Kevin Hodgson

[Julia Loving]

Wendy, I truly enjoyed your story. I am truly looking forward to motherhood myself and very soon. I am looking forward to all of the disorder you expressed so vividly. I especially enjoyed the fact that you seem to really enjoy motherhood despite all of the draw backs. Thanks for sharing.

[Aileen Malave]

Wendy! Oh my Gosh! I loved reading your story. As I was reading I would find myself almost speaking aloud saying "That's so damn true! Why does that happen?" My son is now 18 years old but it brought me back to what it was like raising him. The trials, tribulations and accomplishments in your writing brought me back to mine. Most importantly it reminded me of how fortunate we both are to have become parents. Thank you so much for sharing your story.

[Julie]

Wendy, I especially love all of your shards -- they give such clear insight into your journey from being someone's child into becoming your children's parent. I often think about the fact that we teach as we were taught unless we make a conscious choice to do things differently -- and parenting is the same, I guess.