The Academic - Creative Writing - Word Sketches

This past week, we were asked to write some word sketches about family members, either close or distant.  I wrote three, but for the purposes of this post, I will be sharing only two.  They are, quite obviously, about my kids.

"Jubilant. Inquisitive. Every other word is “why?” She always says, “I’m a seven year old but I’m as big as a ten year old!” with great pride. She believes that if she’s bigger, the world might take her a little more seriously. Sandy hair sits right under her jawline and waves in odd directions which make it look like you’ve never brushed it. “Goofy” and “dorky” are adjectives that suit her well when you omit the insulting connotations. She refuses to wear anything that’s “not pretty” and will fight you with all of her power if you try to make her wear jeans. She is expressive, and creative. There is an artful clumsiness about her, as if she is a nimble ballerina in her mind with a body too tall and clumsy to quite accomplish what she imagines. Her smile is mine, with a touch more quirkiness. There is untapped wisdom in her eyes and I wait patiently for its unveiling every day. If you asked her what she wants to be when she grows up, you’d get “princess” one day and “surgeon” the next. The third day, you might get “zombie-hunter”. She lives with her eyes wide open."
------------------------------------------------------------

"Sturdy, tall (for his age) and lean. The soft, youthful skin of a child who knows how to walk the earth but does not yet understand “don’t put that in your mouth” with 100% success. He knows what his name looks like, but can’t write the whole thing. Hair the same color as a perfectly-baked pie crust, and half the time at least just as sticky. A light shines from within him with energy and weightlessness, pouring out of his green/gray/hazel/moody eyes like laser beams of wonder, joy and hope. He’s always singing. Curiosity is written all over his face; typically in the form of a furrowed brow over some device beep-beep-blooping inches from his nose. His grin is only ever a grin, and never a smile. He is surprising and impressive and problematic. He lacks common sense in the most admirable ways you might be able to imagine, and embraces his new-found playground with clear, unbridled willfulness."