Another chapter started!

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My thanks to all who commented on my rather lengthy post about the book I am trying to write. Your positive comments motivated me to keep writing. I have two NEW vignettes started, and will keep writing until I am done. I am keeping the pressure off of myself by writing a little bit at a time. If I write almost as many words for the book as I do on MyLot, I believe I might have a book within six months. Here is the beginning of another vignette. I invite your comments. Sadly, this one did not turn out so warm and fuzzy. The mother of the child wound up back in prison, and the child wound up with a distant relative. The child DID return in the afternoon to tell me that I'm not really a "punk and a b*tch." I'll capture how I responded to that as I keep writing. The mother had had sex with someone in prison, in hopes of generating the perfect "gang-banger" baby. But she had a girl. Note how I did research on "conjugal visits" and made a note to myself to include that in my writing. Here goes: --- Punk and b*tch. I was at my desk, working on progress notes, when Jamila toddled into my office. She was a cute black girl of three, but she often had a scowl on her face, which matched the scowl of her mother. Her mother, (insert name), was serving time for a drug-related crime. Jamila marched straight toward the “Anything You Want” shelves and took down a developmentally appropriate puzzle. Then she looked me in the eye and said, “Colin, you ain’t nuthin’ but a punk and a b*tch.” I rubbed my chin thoughtfully and said, “Really, I thought I was a fairly well-known developmental psychologist.” I knew she wouldn’t understand all of my words, but my primary goal was not to react in a negative way to her statement. She sat down on the floor and started working on the puzzle. I returned to my progress notes, but looked over my right shoulder occasionally to check on her. When I noticed her struggling with a part of the puzzle, I asked, “Can I do the puzzle with you? We can do more if we want.” She responded in the affirmative, and we finished the puzzle together. She was pleased with what we had done, and asked if we could do another puzzle together. I said “yes,” and asked her if she wanted to do the puzzle alone, or do it “with me.” She said she wanted to do the puzzle together, so we grabbed another puzzle from the “Anything You Want” shelves. We worked in silence for awhile, but I used what Vygotsky calls “scaffolding,” and suggested she try a certain piece “upside down,” to see if he could get it in. When she succeeded, her eyes lit up, and she looked me in the face with a smile. I said, “You did it!” but quickly moved on to another piece, as if to suggest that I knew she could do it, and wasn’t “overly” impressed with her accomplishment. (notes to myself) Mention cognitive dissonance. Only four states currently allow conjugal visits, otherwise known as extended family visits, and they don't exist in the federal prison system. The states are California, Connecticut, New York, and Washington. Conjugal visits can only happen in medium- or lesser-security prisons.