My 6-year-old woke up Sunday morning and said "I have an idea" and scampered off to the spare bedroom where we keep all the arts and crafts supplies.

She came back with a tub full of crayons and a fistful of paper and said, "I'm going to make a book. Daddy, can you help me say (spell) "I love you kangaroo."

The book, no doubt inspired by the kangaroo costume we'd bought for her on Saturday night, was all her own idea, her own words and her illustrations. We helped her with spelling and book binding, er, stapling ... other than that, she did it all herself.

It goes something like,
"When you swing with me,
I love you kangaroo.

When you swim with me,
I love you kangaroo.

When you brush my teeth,
I love you kangaroo."

Only...in Kelly's version it's more like,
"whenyouwsimwi
thmeiloveyoukang
aroo"
because Kindergarteners just don't grasp spacing yet.

But, her story illustrates that she does have a grasp of the cadence of a children's books (she should, we've been reading her stories every night since she was born) and the imagination and internal drive to write her own.

Sure, sure, I know I shouldn't clear a spot on the mantle for her Pulitzer yet and that every mother thinks their kid is a gifted (fill in the blank -- scholar, pianist, gymnast, etc.), but a small part (OK, a big part) of me hopes she's inherited my love of words, books and writing.

What about your kids? Did they display their talents early? Have they found a way to use them in their grown-up lives? What about you?

I truly think the key to happiness in life is A.) helping others and B.) doing what you know you were born to do - whether that's teaching, gardening or writing computer code.

To do anything other than what you know you are driven to do is to deny your true self and waste your natural-born talent. And, life is just too short for that.

So, yes, I'm on the lookout for my daughter's natural talents because I'm going to encourage them in any way I can.

With my little author, I think a few blank notebooks and a new box of crayons or colored pencils are in order.

A few excerpts: