Me and Meg
www.meandmeg.com



I read an article the other day that touched on something that I’m quite fond of: writing about my own children. It got me thinking about what I write on my blog, and if I should edit myself.  Isn’t it an invasion of their privacy?  When should one draw the line?   What should be left unsaid?

As a blogger I can not tell you how many times I have described my youngest in less than flattering terms.  For the first eight months of her life I referred to her as an asshole, (just recently she turned over a new leaf and sleeps- at night) would I say it to her face?  Yes. Will I tell her when she is older how she almost pulled me under? Yes. Will I let her read what I’ve written about her? Of course.  If the criteria for, where to draw the line is bound to my honesty, then I pass.

I remember chatting to a mom at my eldest’s nursery school; she congratulated me on the birth of my third and asked how she was.  I retorted, “She’s been acting like a real asshole”. She tried to mask her horror, but I could see it all over her face. I later blogged about it. Did I share too much, I’m sure to some reading I did. But it’s who I am. I was raised in a house where nothing was left unsaid. Will my daughter be offended? Possibly.  But I’m hoping she finds the humour in my candor, and by the time she is old enough to read that I called her an asshole, she will know that more than anything else, she is loved immensely.

Each blogger has a flavour, a way they like to communicate. And let’s not forget no one is forced to read anything. For me, I feel that sharing how stupid I’ve been will give parents a little reprieve; maybe even allowing them to feel like they’re doing an ok job with their bandits.  Candid, humourous, off the cuff narrative resonates with me.  We could all share the funny, sweet, heart melting moments, but doesn’t that just spurn competition amongst us? 

Of course, I have thought about the two biggest problems with writing about my children. First, I make money off writing about them, are they going to grow up and sue me? Secondly, when my advanced children run for Prime Minister, or become CEO of a Fortune 500 and they are asked about their child hood, or someone quotes something I wrote about them, they can tell the press that their mother’s a real asshole.