Issue link: https://fredparent.uberflip.com/i/578359
30 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • October 2015 family chatter BY MARY BECELIA F or a while I've wanted to write some fan fiction (FF). The fact that I've read very little of it and have no idea of how to write it has slowed me down. But my FF concept was so funny and clever that I knew could overcome that obstacle! What was my idea? Well, with a new teen in the house (Laura turned 13 recently), I've had social media and adolescents on my mind a lot lately. My plan was to write a super witty series of Instagram posts, or maybe texts, between storybook characters Fancy Nancy and Pinkalicious. Of course, they would be teenagers in my FF texting about boys, homework and annoying parents! I started by going to the library and checking out a stack of "Fancy Nancy" and "Pinkalicious" books. For research, you know. Also, I kind of miss having picture books around now that my kids read nothing but chap- ter books. Joe has refused to touch anything but "Warriors" cats books since last summer, and the trilogy that Laura has been reading lately is positively disturbing — something about vampire babies if you can believe it. I needed a hit of the more wholesome stuff. I may have also grabbed a few Max and Ruby books while browsing in the children's section. I really needed a fix! My kids were aghast when they saw my pile of "I Can Read!" level 1 books. I guess they thought I was entering my second childhood. Maybe they're right. All I can say is: it was great to revisit Nancy and Pink. Cupcakes, princesses slumber parties and more cupcakes; what a pink and glittery world they inhabit and not a vampire baby, mutation, or raging war- rior cat to be found anywhere within those pages. I sort of teared up as I leafed through these books. Wasn't Laura running around the house just the other day in a tutu and tiara like Pink's? I started rethinking my fan fiction idea. Why introduce snark and drama into these innocent characters' lives? Our kids grow up, but storybook char- acters don't have to. Was I going to ruin my memories of Fancy Nancy with her curls and feather boa? Pinkalicious with her sticky-out pigtails and star- tipped wand? Both connected in my mind with Laura decked out with beads and clomping around in my high heels. What madness was this? Long live Fancy Nancy and Pinkalicious and their cupcakes! If Instagram and texting enter their world, it will be via some other writer. Me? I'll be over here leafing through some picture books and maybe crying. Just a little bit. Mary Becelia lives with her family in Southern Stafford. #fancynancy