The third decade of the 21st century has seen a focus emerge on the agentic practices of writers, focusing on what, how and why people write. While considerable research has been conducted on school-age writing practices, there is still limited insight into the writing practices of children outside of school or formal education settings. This article adopts a collaborative autoethnographic lens to explore a mother's perception of her children's writing practices and their identity formations as developing writers, in discussion with her doctoral supervisors. The article specifically explores the parental, sibling and environmental supports that are made available to four siblings within the home to support early writing, and how their understandings toward writing are developed and practised. Consideration is given to the relationship between informal home writing practices and implications or opportunities for school and early childhood writing practices.