I have or more accurately HAD a stack of post-it notes sitting on the countertop in the kitchen where I could jot down items I need at the grocery, important phone numbers, appointments that I will eventually add to a computerized calendar, anything that needs a quick scribble. Both kids have systematically used every single one to draw cartoons or write poems. Marlo’s poems are shall we say a little more abstract in nature, and after I took this photo she drew a long and winding line that resembled nothing. I asked her what it said.

“I can kill monsters in real life,” she answered.

No, it’s not Shakespeare. But it comes pretty damn close.