My daughter Mel is learning to read. At school, she is learning "popcorn words" which are basically two and three letter words that are commonly used. When I'm reading something, she'll point to the words she knows and say, "I know that one! It's one of my popcorn words!"
(Why is everything kids say so darn cute?)
Anyway, I know reading is just around the corner, which makes me realize that soon she'll be able to read things like... this blog. And that makes me a little anxious.
I feel like she may not "get" the things that I write online. Maybe this will be yet another piece of evidence that her mom is hopelessly uncool. Or worse, maybe she'll be offended by some of my posts that involve the challenges of being a mother in medicine.
I could, of course, continue to keep it a secret. My parents don't know I blog here, nor do my friends. But it's a little harder to keep it a secret from someone I live with, especially since she'll probably be using my computer sometimes.
For those of you who are bloggers and have kids old enough to read, do they know you blog? What do they think about it? For those of you with younger kids, do you plan to tell them?
Even without reading your "posts" your daughter will eventually figure out by just seeing you that there are chalenges to being/having a working parent, period. As far as other things, you are much cooler as a doctor mom, BECAUSE you are blogging. And we love your entries, keep them coming. I will call myself Lana, knowing how you hate Anons.
ReplyDeleteI have teens and they don't know I blog. Here's how I keep this skeleton in the closet:
ReplyDelete1. Always log off.
2. Use separate profiles. You have their user name and password, but they don't know yours. Hey, it's the cost of having computer privileges!
3. If it all possible, never write on a computer they use.
The only person who knows I blog is my Doc H.
I haven't been blogging long, but so far so good and we have 4 teens.
Just discovered your blog yesterday and am enjoying the read! Thanks!
Good luck!
YDW: I have a feeling that Mel is going to end up with her own computer, so maybe it will be possible to keep a secret. But at the same time, I have a bad feeling she'll find it eventually in the history or something. Maybe it would be better just to tell her. Alternately, I may run out of things to say between now and when she can read better.
ReplyDeleteLana: thanks for not being anonymous :)
Fizzy,
ReplyDeleteMy son is 14 and knows about my blogging. I only blog here, I don't have a personal one.
He pays absolutely no attention to my blog. I actually pulled up one post for him to read that I wanted him to see, and he thought it was mildly interesting. He would probably be mad if I posted something about him that he found embarrassing, but that wouldn't be a big deal. Parents embarrass kids all the time. In fact, it might give me disciplinary power if he fears I might blog about him! ;-)
One of the things I thought about when I started blogging here is that I'd like for him to read the blog someday. I think it would help him understand me and my career better and maybe give us a way to connect. He might be that mature in, oh, twenty years! X-D
When I had my own blog, my sons would often ask about whether or not I blogged - although I denied it, I suspect they knew but played along...they do know my pseudonym, and are savvy enough to have searched if they were really interested. I'm pretty sure they have no clue that I'm a [too rare] contributor here.
ReplyDeleteI just wrote about hiding my blog so that my kids couldn't read it when they were teens. I was going through a messy divorce and needed a place to express my anger so I wouldn't express it to them. They never found the blog. I blog at a different place now and one of them reads my blog. The other two ignore it. I just have to not vent about them there. But if you don't advertise to them where the blog is stored, they are unlikely to look for it.
ReplyDelete