Does your child love to tell stories? Kids ages 8 to 18 who want to test their storytelling and writing ability can enter the St. Louis County Library's "Write Stuff' contest and win cash prizes. The topic is family road trips, and who doesn't have a funny story about that?

(And if your child doesn't, they can make one up! In other words, both fiction and non-fiction stories are accepted.)

The contest, part of the library system's Art @ Your Library series of events, challenges participants to write an original story beginning with this sentence, “It started out like any other family road trip...”

Entries can be truthful, fictional, funny, sad, serious, sarcastic or anything, so long as the writing is original and completed by the entrant. Winners will be chosen from three groups: ages 8-10, ages 11-14, and ages 15-18.

When I listed my dining room table for sale on Craig's List a few years ago, I was super excited when I had a taker within hours. Excited and shocked, that is - that thing was hideous. It was one of the few remaining hangers on from the big furniture merge when my husband and I got married.

The buyer didn't negotiate the price and didn't want to stop by to see it in person. He would simply send his movers to my house. In hindsight these were some major red flags, but at the moment a big relief that I was finally unloading that eyesore and the fact that I wouldn't have some creeper showing up at my doorstep was a bonus.

A few days later he sent an email saying his assistant accidentally cut the check for $1,000 too much. He asked that once I deposited the check to please wire him back the overage ASAP.

Now, I know what you're thinking. SCAMMER! DON'T DO IT! REEER REEER REEER (that's my siren noise in print). But you know what I thought at the time? “Oh, okay. Sounds legit.”

My husband doesn't get many days off, so on the rare occasion we're hanging out at home all day together it sort of reminds me of when I was in sales and the district manager would pop into town and see what I'd been up to.

Which, on a good day, was blowing off my clients and taking five hour lunches at Lion's Choice with my co-workers. And, on a bad day, was blowing off my clients and sleeping off the night before in the back seat of my Mitsubishi Mirage in a mall parking lot.

I didn't really like sales all that much.

Let me be clear – for the most part Nick is so exhausted on his days off that he mostly just lays on the couch and mumbles incoherently every once in a while for some water. But being the praise-crazed (and starved) person I am, I find myself narrating my every move, giving him the “look what an awesome stay-at-home Mom I am” play-by-play of our daily routine.

Every toddler has the touch of the OCD. One minute, your child is the sweetest little ray of sunshine, and the next, she busts out with a Courtney Love on Mountain Dew level meltdown because you poured milk in her Dora cup instead of her Elmo one.

There are some kids who easily adapt and simply roll with the punches. Forgot the pink sippy cup? Well, that’s alright, mom – the green one is just spiffy! These toddlers are a rare breed and often cause a mom to stare at them with a mix of awe and wonder usually reserved for a free Hermes bag stuffed with Skinnygirl and Dove bars.

However, the breed of toddler most often observed in nature is that which mysteriously sprout talons and fangs if you put too much toothpaste on their brush.

My three-year-old falls in the latter.

When it comes to education, I have a lot of – and some would say too many – opinions.

I don’t believe in homework – at least not the ridiculous amount that so many elementary-age children are given every night, often to the detriment of quality family time, extracurricular activities, and some nights even sleep.  

I’m not a fan of the current trend towards full-day kindergarten, and the belief that we have to force our children to be “smarter faster” if they’re ever going to succeed in the adult world.

I often wonder if all the rules and schedules and bells and detentions in our schools are really preparing our kids for their future – or just teaching them to fall in line and do as their told and never truly learn to think for themselves.

Most importantly, I believe that our children need more time to play, and that the current trend to limit recess time to accommodate extra academics is both misguided and irresponsible.

And while I know I’m in the minority when it comes to many of my opinions, it turns out that even the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) agrees with me on that last one.