by Tara Lazar

“Happy Morning!”

What a nice way to greet my parents and I as we topped off the tank at our local gas station.

But something bothered me about those bright red letters hanging above the garage bays. Why were they only wishing us a good morning? Didn’t people buy gas in the afternoon and evening, too?

Every time we visited that station, I stared at those letters, hoping to extract secret meaning out of them. I only got more upset. Happy morning, happy morning, HAPPY MORNING! I knew there was something I was missing. But what???

Then, as I grew a teeny bit older, and therefore became a better reader, it finally hit me!

Vintage Esso/Exxon Ad

Those letters never said “morning”! They read M-O-T-O-R-I-N-G!

Boy, was I mad at myself. I was in the top reading group in Mrs. Merell’s class. How could I have misread that?

Lots of things go right over a child’s head.

Take another Tara-in-the-back-seat-of-a-Pontiac misunderstanding. Right before that gas station, there was a sign for the Garden State Parkway.

Credit: gardenstatesignals.net

Likewise, I stared at that sign, trying to make it make sense. I didn’t understand what the side-profile of a little girl wearing a bonnet (like my Hollie Hobbie doll) and standing on one leg had to do with New Jersey roads.

It was only later, after school geography units and home-state history, that I recognized the shape of the Garden State. Moreover, that yellow line wasn’t a loose bonnet tie, but the road that brought us “down the shore”.

Misunderstandings abound in childhood. We are learning everything about the world, so we’re bound to get a few things wrong. Think of Amelia Bedelia, childlike in her innocence, drawing the curtains like an artist instead of like a maid. My book 7 ATE 9 also comes from a homophone misunderstanding–ATE instead of EIGHT.

So for the first day of Storystorm, think back to your younger days. What did you misunderstand? Is there a story there? Could one be invented? What mistakes could a modern kiddo kid around with?

I hope you have a happy morning this first day of Storystorm 2026!

And a happy afternoon and evening, too!

A note about PRIZES THIS YEAR. There will not be daily prizes as in years past. There will be GRAND PRIZES at the conclusion of Storystorm, of course, where lucky winners will receive agent feedback on their best five ideas. Plus there will be some individual AMA video call giveaways. So you don’t need to comment on every daily post. But, it sure would be great to hear your thoughts anyway!