One of the really weird things about having a blog and then forgetting you've told people about that blog is that people will occasionally read your blog and then mention it to you and then you get nervous and wonder if you're secretly blogging things that might offend them.
For instance, I was at my cousin's daughter's one hundred day party (a special Korean celebration of a baby's life and their moving past the most worrisome part of their childhood) and his sister turned to me and told me that my post on thoughts I had while anxious was hilarious. I immediately froze and reviewed whether I had blogged about my mom recently in a negative way. (Darling cousin, you're on to my secret thoughts now.) Luckily, while my mom and I have a somewhat argumentative relationship, she has been terrific (mostly) lately. Even if I didn't love my mom because she was my mom, I would love her because she tells me to take a nap when she sees me and then her and N play outside all day. And I sleep. Do you know how much I love sleep while I'm pregnant? It's like the greatest blessing on Earth. And though I hate to say this to my husband, the sleep I get when around my mom is deeper than the sleep I get around him. I'm more assured that she'll rush to get N if he's upset or hurt or waking up.
I also wonder if any of P's family (besides my super awesome sister-in-law) ever reads my blog. I barely ever mention P's family, but it weighs on my mind. For instance, I've been wanting to blog about how much I adore my mother-in-law recently, but in doing so, I might happen to admit that I love her much more than I love my father-in-law (who I'm also fond of) but I don't want her whole family to hate me for that. Well, I guess the secret is out now. Don't hate me, okay? I just love your mom more.
Luckily, among my friends, I mostly know who is reading, though I also am curious if anyone of my Facebook friends have found this blog via my webpage link. Surely most of them I never discuss and the ones who I'd insult are the same ones who'd never come looking at this blog, but it still makes me a little nervous.
I think this is one of the reasons I was so happy to keep my online stuff mostly impersonal for so long. You can't really hurt a person's feelings by telling them that you knit a pair of socks or cross-stitched a sampler, you know?
After all that, I do want to give me cousin who reads this blog a big shout out. First, she should have her own damned blog because her decorating at the party was fine. I feel she put a ton more simple and elegant thought into that party than I have for all of my son's parties combined. The color combo of grey and yellow was interesting and pretty and perfect. Secondly, she let me borrow her truckload of maternity clothes. I'll admit that I was a little intimidated by the sheer amount of them. (Last pregnancy, I had about three pairs of pants. This time I have ten pair of khaki pants alone!) Thirdly, she's also the one that taught me to cross-stitch way back in the day. If I had never cross-stitched, I probably would never have knitted. If I had never knitted, I would probably never have picked up sewing. All my craftiest hobbies are due to her and she never even knew it.
4 comments:
i often wonder about some of the blogs i read. i totally enjoy reading funny accounts of other people's dysfunctional families... but i do wonder how those families feel about having their dirty laundry aired in cyberspace.
for me, lots of things are off limits. i will not write about something that might embarrass or offend people i care about. because i am a teacher, i CANNOT share confidential info about students. even if i don't use their names, it still feels wrong to me. it's kind of a shame, but i have some great stories. :)
i guess i will never have one of those uber popular "mommy blogs" because i am not willing to sell out my family and students.
the bottom line is you don't really know who is reading your blog. people find things, even when you think you have carefully hidden them in back of the cyberspace closet.
The hard part about NOT airing your dirty laundry, too, is that eventually you feel like you're reading the blog of the person who has it altogether and you feel worse about the fact that occasionally you let a room go undecorated for years because you don't have the cash or drive to get it together. Or because you didn't homeschool your child. Or because your child isn't a genius at art or music or dance.
I try to only talk about my own negative feelings, and I joke about my husband, who is actually really great, but I leave my parents and in-laws out of it, mostly.
For me, when I post it tends to be very crafty related stuff (I have been on hiatus ever since the twins were born, then the stupid RSS feed got hijacked...) so no one really reads our blog any more. Well, other than those that come from Ravelry because of a free pattern I posted a while ago.
I gotta say, i LOVE your blog and I'm so happy that M pointed it out to me. There were so many things that I went through when I was pregnant that I wish I had put in writing...
(PS I also love my mother-in-law. Wish there was a sweeter nickname for them instead of Mother-in-law; it sounds so cold!...I am extremely lucky. I just wish she would live closer, I keep on telling them there is this one house in our block... ;-P)
Angie, I looked at your blog and you sew. <3 I do love sewing even if I'm a procrastinator. I so want to have a sewing day at my house with friends one day. People bring machines, projects to work on, and we just all work!
Also, my pregnancy blogging is just to counteract all the other glowing blogs out there that give the impression that pregnancy is the best thing in the world.
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