>Take It From Me, Parents Just Don’t Understand
>Some of you have e-mailed to ask how my parents took the news of my blog.
Well, they uh, actually, they didn’t.
Oh, they know about the newspaper column. We brought them two copies last week when we dropped the baby off. Both of them eagerly grabbed one and ran to different corners of the house to read my print debut.
And both of them looked a little bemused when they returned to face me in the kitchen.
“I just wish I could understand all these cultural references,” my dad said wistfully, tapping the newspaper with his reading glasses.
“So, where do you want to eat dinner tonight?” my mom said when I looked at her.
As for the blog, well, at the end of the column, my website address was plainly visible. But neither of them picked up on it. I guess they figured it was simply an online version of the column. Neither of them are all that web savvy.
Still, I couldn’t believe that my mother had nothing to say about my column.
“So mom,” I said later when the two of us were alone. “The column is a little different from what you’re used to reading, huh?”
“Well, I never expected to see the word ‘crap’ in any of your writing,” she replied, pursing her lips.
“Hmm,” I said.
“I mean, your editor needs to know that that is just not you,” she said. “For heaven’s sake, you lead a church play group.”
“Mom,” I said hesitantly, “The word ‘crap’ is probably not going to be the worst thing you read in my writing. I mean, I write the things that you’d say to your best friend on the phone. I don’t cuss in front of my play group or out in public, but you’d better believe I let things fly in front of my girlfriends. Just like you do.”
“I guess that’s a side of you I don’t know,” she said quietly.
I realized then that I could not tell her about the blog. She’s just going to have to find it on her own. And when she does, I hope to God she keeps it to herself. Because if I have to write with my mom as a blog critic, things are going to get a million shades of sucky around here.
Pray for me.
>You said sucky.
>I suppose you could delete all the old derogatory posts about your mom so she’d never see them. We’ve all read them anyway.I won’t tell.
>I love that you lead a church play group.So do I.Just kidding. Heh. Now that would be funny.
>oh good lord, i’m so sorry. LOL.. i’m so happy my parents know and read my blog (sometimes).. my grandfather reads it faithfully. i don’t think anything would shock them- and i’m grateful for that. now the future inlaws is another story altogether
>Isn’t it funny what parents think??LBC
>It can be a bit daunting when your parents read your blog. Or your in-laws. You just have to keep doing things your own way and hope they understand.
>ha. I can’t stop laughing. Yeah, let’s just hope your mom never finds the blog. Because if she’s anything like my mom, she’ll tell all her friends and co-workers and you will have to censor what you write about her. Because you know they will all be reading solely for the purpose of digging dirt. I love stall talk. Excellent choice.
>Snicker snicker!I sooo understand. “Fart” was the F word in our house growing up. I don’t want my mother on the blog either. She’d be commenting several times per day. Talk about sucky.Good luck…. prayers are coming…
>I do some creative promotion when it comes to my blog. I want my friends to read it, but I don’t want my parents near it. I’m sure there would be a lot of questions from them if they ever did find it.
>My mom reads my blog but thankfully has stopped telling random strangers, like her postman, about it. This is why the most colorful words I use are boob and poop. Day spa trip with mom tomorrow, perhaps?
>You lead a church play group??? LOL!Whew… Sorry.Anyway, my mom hates my blog. She thinks that I use, um, ‘naughty’ launguage that it shouldn’t be in the net. What. Ever.Congrats on the column. I’m stoked for you! 🙂
>just goes to show, you’re never too old to have secrets from your folks.
>I wouldn’t have told her either. Just to have peace a while longer.
>This is why I have two blogs … the one for the real me, and the one for the unreal me. I couldn’t take it that my MIL was reading my blog. She couldn’t CALL me for updates on my kids. She had to read my blog, and I couldn’t talk about her. So I was miffed. Good luck in your mom never finding your blog!
>I don’t know if you remember this, Lucinda, but my mom found my blog a few months ago. And you’re right – it unfortunately does change what I can say and how I can say it. Also, one thing that has really bothered me is that unlike blogger or online friends, she will go beyond simply commenting in the comment box, and will bring things up from my blog at family dinners, etc. She’ll also call me and ask me to expound on a feeling I mentioned, etc. GAH!! If I’d wanted to expound, I would have done it on the blog. It’s frustrating. Luckily your parents aren’t that web savvy – that might save you some grief!
>LOVE, love the line “million shades of sucky”. I must borrow that.My mom knows about my blog, does not read it, and YET thinks she has jurisdiction over my profanity. The nerve!Look forward to tomorrow’s post…
>My family and friends know about my blog. Some read it, and hubs reads it, so I think some things do go unsaid. But not too many. In a lot of ways I wish I had a secret blog where no one knows my identity.
>I’ve been away too long! I have missed the public unveiling! Dang it all. First, you’re gorgeous! Second, how exciting! Good luck with the new column.My parents and in-laws and extended family and as of yesterday, my boss and his boss (a former state representative) know about my blog. Great. Just when I started swearing again.
>Stall Talk is a classic. What a great gig. You can coast on “best of” posts whenever you don’t have a fresh column and nobody will know. Except us.
>Too funny! I finally got around to my own blog and have no intention of my parents or MIL finding it. They won’t care if I curse, but I want to be able to be open and honest without hurting anyone’s feelings.
>haaaaaa!if my mom ever discovers my blog, the earth will implode.
>That soooooooo sounds like my Mom!
>How about…”My dog ate them. All of them. It was a hungry dog.” No? Oh well, I’d move house, change phone numbers, claim temporary amnesia. Sucky is not fun!
>Parents are funny creatures. My family all reads my blog and it’s funny to see what people don’t get or what makes them uncomfortable. I think your description to your mom was just perfect though. If she doesn’t get it, well…blog it.
>That’s funny, Mom 101… My idea was to blog it every time she gets mad about the blog, until she won’t get mad anymore for fear of being written about. Heh.
>This is exactly why I didn’t tell *anyone* about my blog. Not that I swear or talk dirty or bitch about them much, but if I wanted to – it would be nice to do so freely. except that misterpie found me. crap.
>I’m so scared to write about the folks. I know it will all come tumbling out and I’ll have to up my Paxil prescription.I figure if I stay away from that can of worms I can avoid telling them about the blog!
>This is too funny. I have totally struggled with being “free” on my blog because, for the longest time, the only people that I truly knew were reading were a)my mother b)my father and c)my parents’ friends. To say that I’ve been scolded repeatedly is an understatement. “Did you have to say ‘penis’?” “I just think some of your language really demeans your writing…” But now, they’ve come around, despite my transgressions. I still imagine my mom’s face when I write certain things, but that’s OK. Congratulations on your column.