Strangers

We have new neighbors.  They are really nice people--a young couple with two kids very close in age to our's.  We've yet to get to know the parents very well as they both work during the week.  But we've had the children around nearly every day since they moved in.  Our children are IN HEAVEN!  They ask every morning and every night when they can have their new friends over.

And so they come.  And they play.

Four laughing, pretending, needing children.  In some ways it's easier--my children are entertained and that equals less work for me.  In others it's more--more mouths to feed, more responsibility, more restrictions on my activities.

But all in all, it's a blessing.  My children can run freely to another house for the first time.  They are learning to be hosts and how to treat guests.  They are making strong friendships.

Sometimes when I'm writing, a stranger wanders in.  That person could be a major character in the future.  They could be instrumental to the development of my MC.  They could be a killer.  But it's a process for me just like it's a process for my children.  I have to learn how to work with this new children, discover their likes, dislikes, and other traits.  I have to be a good host and treat them well.

Then they aren't strangers anymore.  They are just part of the writing family.