You Never Know Who’s Reading

I’ve been writing this blog for quite some time now, but I still never quite get used to the fact that people actually read it. Not that I’m surprised when comments come up on Facebook or here, but in real life when people come up to me and say they were reading what I’d written, my first instinct is somehow always panic. I stand by what I write here, of course, but I’m always worried I said something I shouldn’t. Somehow, the feel of an online forum is distinct from an in-person discussion. I don’t know why it is, but there you have it.

But this week I had a new experience. It wasn’t a friend or acquaintance coming to tell me they’d read what I was writing: it was my son. TRC casually dropped a reference to my blog in one of our conversations, and I discovered that there’s a whole new level of concern and panic you feel when you’ve been writing about someone without their permission for a decade or so.

What had I written? Was he okay with it? Had I said anything I shouldn’t have?

Thankfully, it was nothing alarming. He just liked seeing what I was writing. (The kid would read the phone book if there was nothing else lying around.) But it was an excellent reminder that I need to be respectful of all family members on here, not just Denisa. I know that sounds a bit strange, but what I mean is that when I write something that includes Denisa, I’ve always tried to be cautious about what I say and not put anything up she might object to. And really, I’ve done the same thing with my kids.

As I think about it, maybe my concern wasn’t that TRC had read something, but that one of his friends might read something on here and then give him a hard time about it. That’s where my mind someone immediately leapt: did I do anything that would embarrass him?

Let’s face it: I write a fair number of goofy posts now and then, and I guess there’s plenty of fodder on here for someone to make fun of if they wanted to. Kids have been getting embarrassed by their parents for as long as there have been parents and kids. So I’m not going to really switch anything up here on the blog too much. But at the same time, I keep in mind my audience when I’m writing this. As a writer, the end result is often very different depending on who the audience is. After having written this for so long, I’ve grown accustomed to the things I have to pay attention to.

This just adds one more layer to that.

Anyway. That’s all I have for you today. Have a great weekend, and I’ll catch you on the flip side!