April 14th, 2012

Funny but true…

by Terri Libenson

People often ask whether Pajama Diaries is based on real life. It is in the most intrinsic sense. It was originally born from my own experiences. That said, now it kinda takes on a life of its own. Stories that stem from real life tend to deviate or become exaggerated for the sake of the punch line. The characters’ personalities, too, get stretched. And most of the strips I write, in fact, are equally inspired by other people’s experiences. I do a lot of research online, in books and magazines, and from listening to friends’ stories. The “Lice” series, for example: didn’t happen to me, but I heard enough horror stories to make it a relatable topic.

Once in a while, though, my own stuff sneaks in. Just in case you ever wondered which strips were specifically “true to life,” here are a bunch of recent examples with brief explanations for fun:

This is practically verbatim. My kids get so jealous of all the “cool” gifts I buy for their friends. And I get mad when the girls start demanding expensive birthday gifts after the privilege of being A-list party goers all year round.

Also happened. Hubby and I were enjoying rare alcoholic drinks with dinner the same evening our younger daughter had a “DARE” program. She let us have it.

No, this isn’t verbatim. But it is SO true that working from home has made my social skills completely deteriorate. Warning: I now come with no filter and a totally backwards grasp of the English language. I’m great with emails, though.

Guilty! I check my older daughter’s online grades practically every hour. Yup, I have no social skills and I’m a compulsive freak. It’s amazing I’m let out of the house.

My older daughter pulled this one on me and I turned it right around on her, just as Jill does in the strip. The only made-up part is the last panel. In real life, my daughter just stood there, dumbfounded, like Amy in the second-to-last panel.

Also true, right up to the very last panel. Since this incident, we’ve worked out our texting system.

It is true that if hubby and I were to go back in time, we would totally elope. I really did wait forever to replace our old, crappy furniture. I would’ve taken the wedding money and gone “extreme makeover” on our house.

Yes, I have a Bat Mitzvah file folder that size. And it’s now overflowing into File Folder #2. Told you I was compulsive.

That was fun. I’ll have to post more down the road. In the meantime, if YOU have any true life experiences that you think would make great comic strip material, don’t hesitate to send ‘em my way.