New Worry

by Marinka on December 26, 2011

This post has been inspired by this one and its comments.

Recently I’ve been very worried that I’m too old to be a mommy blogger.

I know that I look as young and stunning as the day you first read that blog, but the ugly truth is that I’ve been aging. Behind your back.

Well, now that I think about it, it’s not that I am too old, but it’s my kids who are too old. But I’ll be damned if I’m too exhausted to edit the first three sentences of this post. Old age and all.

My children are 13 and 10, so we are past a lot of the stuff that mommy blogging is made of.

Or should be.

Because yes, the days of sleepless nights and potty training and breast vs. bottle and SAHM vs. WOHM and will I ever get my body back are far behind me.

That’s not what my life is made of and I worry that this makes me a mommy blogger has been.

And to make matters worse, my kids are acting up.

Not the adorable for blogging purposes acting up, where they hurl themselves on the floor and re-enact the The Excorcist, but the DON’T BLOG ABOUT US type of acting up. The stuff that kills blogs.

And I get it.

But I have mixed feelings about it.

Because although I understand my children not wanting to be fodder for humorous stories, I’m still searching for that line that nestles between their need for privacy and my conviction that the stories of my raising them belong to me as well. Under a some sort of a Creative Commons-type license perhaps.

When my thirteen year old daughter who recently got the nearly invisible braces asks her uncle, “can you tell that I am under orthodontic treatment?” I can’t not mention it on a post. I just cannot. Also when Young Ladrinka clings to his new Kindle Fire (OMG, I WANT ONE SO MUCH) and then as he opens up the first book that he downloaded, doesn’t pause at the Prologue, explaining that he never reads those, they are extra and don’t matter.

I need to write that down. In the my kids kill me they are so clever and mine, all mine, at least for a few more years way.

One year ago ...

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An awful lot of effing links « blue milk
January 6, 2012 at 11:35 pm

{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }

elizabeth-flourish in progress
Twitter:
December 26, 2011 at 7:32 pm

As the mom of a 12-year-old (has been for 2 whole weeks now, and she says she can’t even remember being 11. oh god.), I totally get this.

The other day, Cal would not let me snap a picture of her because she said I would “put it somewhere on the internet.”

I then asked her:
Do you live rent-free? Yes

Do you work? No

Do you want for anything? No

Then stand there and let me take the picture.

Reply

Mom101
Twitter:
December 26, 2011 at 7:46 pm

I’m feeling that way with a 6 and 4 year old, so I can only imagine.

I still have a promise with Thalia that I would not talk about (or blog about) the most awesome, wonderful funny think that she did once last year because it embarrassed her. And it freaking kills me. Once a month, I say, okay can I tell people (or blog about it) NOW? And she still says no. Which I respect. Mostly.

Because for some reason, she’s not yet aware of the fact that I own her.

Reply

Tasha
Twitter:
December 26, 2011 at 8:15 pm

I told my husband that when the funny stories about the kids end that he’s going to need to kick the crazy up a notch so I have something to blog about. He happily agreed.

Reply

Peajaye
Twitter:
December 26, 2011 at 9:02 pm

I think the solution is simple: you just need to have another baby. Quick!

Reply

the mama bird diaries
Twitter:
December 26, 2011 at 9:39 pm

Also, already having that issue with a 7 year old. And she knows how to read now. Not good. I mean, good for her future career aspirations. But not good for my blogging. And I’m so not anonymous like you.

I have never thought of you as a mommy blogger. But as a humor blogger. And you’re never too old to be a humor blogger.

Reply

dusty earth mother December 26, 2011 at 10:27 pm

I agree with Kelcey.

And you’re supposed to read the Prologues??!

Reply

Tracie
Twitter:
December 26, 2011 at 10:29 pm

I am feeling the beginnings of this with my daughter, who is eight. And to make it worse, she started her own blog this month – meaning she is now walking around saying things like, “I’m going to blog about this” and quickly following it up with, “I’M GOING TO BLOG ABOUT THIS, because it is my story, so you can’t blog about it first mom, even though you get to stay up later and use the computer while I am in bed asleep.”

Reply

All Fooked Up
Twitter:
December 26, 2011 at 11:16 pm

Hmmmm….I can’t imagine if I had tried to write about my teens…they would have killed me.

However, just draw up some limits. The term “mom blogger” is only semantics….

Reply

Catherine
Twitter:
December 27, 2011 at 12:18 am

It seems to me this is simply a question of semantics. Maybe you’re a humorist and not a mommy blogger. It’s not your fault where the humor comes from. Consider your talent more important than two little people’s need for privacy (don’t tell your daughter I called her a little person. I don’t want unhappy red emails in bold lettering coming to my inbox).

Ask any comedian, they’ll tell you. Funny is funny and there ain’t nothin’ anyone can do about it.

Reply

joeinvegas December 27, 2011 at 1:23 pm

You’ll be Mommie forever. Keep writing, they can start their own blogs to refute things, or tell stories about you.

Reply

Anna Lefler
Twitter:
December 27, 2011 at 1:41 pm

Here’s the thing – and I feel strongly about this: it’s not up to the people around you whether you write about them or not. It just comes with the territory and they have to understand that they will be treated with respect…or at the very least disguised to the outside world.

You’re a writer (and a great one). They’re your family. Your friends are your friends. And so on. Everyone is fair game.

XO

A.

Reply

Ilana
Twitter:
December 27, 2011 at 8:31 pm

My daughter just turned two and I’m already starting to see the end. Most of the bloggers I like and read have much older kids- I find it inspiring. And being my inspiration is way more important than making your kids happy, right?

Reply

Alexandra December 28, 2011 at 2:38 pm

I have never thought of you as a mommy blogger.

Never ever.

And I remember my first visit here, I jumped over from Heather (wonderful hilarious Heather that I miss so much)

I never thought of her as a mommy blogger, either.

I hope people think of me as non categorizable, too.

One can hope.

I love your posts.

Reply

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