Explaining Things to Kids

Some parents have an easy-to-describe career path when their children ask them what they do:

"I take care of people when they're sick." (Doctor/Nurse)

"I fix people's cars." (Mechanic)

"I help kids learn to read and write." (Teacher)

Me, on the other hand?  Not so much.  

"I write books...  Yes, like the ones you see at the bookstore or the library... No, you can't find my book there yet... Well, I have to get a Publisher..."  Then, I have to explain what a Publisher does, which leads to a conversation about why a Publisher isn't publishing the book, which leads to a discussion on subjectivity of taste and the intricacies of how our current economic climate affects the book market, which is typically around the time the child either runs off to play, asks me if she can have some gum, or repeats the first question ("What is your job, Daddy?").

SIDE TANGENT: I've noticed that kids like to ask a lot of questions, but don't really want an answer, because they ask the same questions over and over and over.  This leads me to believe that kids just like to hear the sound of their own voices (hmm, I think some adults are a little like this too... that's probably why blogs were first invented).

Anyway, what was this blog post about again? Oh yeah, careers that are easy to describe vs. not... I think I've exhausted this subject.

Or I just feel exhausted. (See this post.)