Mike Moh is the kids’ former tae kwon do instructor who moved to LA to pursue an acting career, but he continues to teach and inspire his students through his blog. The other day, he wrote about the concept of a “Dream Board.” He described this as corkboard that you use to display your goals—like motivational sayings, or pictures of things you wish to attain through hard work. I immediately had a vision of my “Dream Board,” and tacked upon it would be a picture of my family.

A chorus of “awww” would be appropriate now, but let me explain why a photo of us together would be significant. Well, in this snapshot, all three of my kids have their heads attached to their bodies, and I’m still in the picture. Yes, my goal–my dream for the summer is to make it to the end without decapitating them or running away in the minivan with our life’s savings and a six-pack of diet cream soda.

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I’ve always liked the idea of a pen name. I’ve published under my maiden name, and my married name, but I like the idea of the anonymity that comes with a nom de plume. Especially now that my kids are school aged. Not that I am particularly ashamed of anything I have written, or may write in the future, but it just seems to add another layer of protection for them. In case some teacher, or parent of a friend, or clergy member happens upon something of mine and shrieks, “Holy hell! That kid’s mother wrote this?” And the next thing you know my child is shunned, my house is spray painted with graffiti, my cats have rocks thrown at them and my family is run out of town. Of course, that’s not a problem yet, since nobody reads anything I write. But, if I’m lucky, it may be!

It’s also a great time waster to sit around and think of the perfect alias. I gave a lot of thought to that very idea before signing on to write here. The best one I could come up with was, “Sharpie.” I still like that. Get it? Pen name…Sharpie? It’s a pun, but also a neat name, it inspires images of a wicked tongue, quick-wit, and, well, permanence. In the end, I decided not to be so silly.

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