Neil's comment on my last post got me thinking. I hate Dr. Phil--ok, hate is strong, but he does creep me out-- so, no, I won't be making any appearances with my family. I already know that I should get my act together and that my parents' kindness enables my reclusiveness.
Anyway, this really just reminded me of a moment at dinner a couple days ago.
I was being good. Mom set up her anecdote's climax, but then told a long, meandering tale that felt like it would never pay off. I didn't interrupt and resisted the urge to ask how all the extraneous information was relevant.
We moved on to other topics, but then in one sentence I blew all of my good efforts with a smartass retort as to what dinnertime is actually for. "No, it's a time to see how many bits of conversation dad will reiterate because he just wasn't listening to us, and to see how long it'll take you to come around to the punchline of your story." I was doing so well, why did I just blow all of that restraint?
Then very unexpectedly and directly, Mom demanded, "Do you write about your father and me on your website...blog or whatever you call it?"
As the burn swept up my cheeks, the following crossed my mind:
Of course.
If I say that, I'm admitting I have a blog.
Am I blushing or does it just feel that way to me?
Maybe when she encouraged me to write about my experiences living here (with the caveat that she didn't want to read it), she didn't expect me to post them on the web.
This is why I'd be a bad poker player.
Fortunately, she was kind and followed up with a topic-changing question with nary a pause. Either she already had her answer, or she didn't really want it confirmed.
Thanks for the support and the inspiration, Mom!
tags: mother-daughter+relationship, parents-daughter+relationship, family+inspiration, Dr.Phil
My parents do, occasionally, read my blog. They've known of the existence of my web site since I started it eight years ago. However, they don't read it all the time. Rarely, in fact. But with my luck, the one time I blog something negative about them, that's when they'd read. Damn karma.
ReplyDeleteIf I explicitly told them about it, they would make a point of reading every post (and probably all of the archives as well though dad would have to print them all out for mom). On the one hand, my hit count would go up, but on the other, I envision more upset mom conversations in my life. Not worth it if it can be helped.
ReplyDeleteMy mom doesn't care if I write a blog. She just doesn't want me to hurt anyone's feelings. Luckily, she doesn't know where to find my blog, so I don't have to listen to lectures about how sometimes the truth is best left unsaid. (I've never understood that argument)
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong, I don't want to hurt my mom's feelings. Having my blog as an outlet helps me refrain from saying more stupid things in person.
ReplyDeleteI think my mom has similar authorial aspirations for me, though I think it's only occurring to her more recently that such writing would likely be non-fiction.
ReplyDeleteMy mum reads my blog all the time, and I wouldn't know how to write anything bad about her anyway.. She's even started to read the blogs I'm reading - so told me to stay out of commenting badly about her as well ;) Not that it's likely to happen, but she obviously thought she'd warn me just in case...
ReplyDeleteWell, from what you've said before, it's clear your mom is quite different from mine.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm not out to say bad things about mine. I'm just writing my point of view for a particular moment-often one bourne of frustration. Writing helps get me past it. If a situation isn't something I feel compelled to write about to get it out of my system, I'm much less likely to write about it.