In Which I Explain Why This Post Was Almost Never Written

This blog almost died right after the first entry. Why? Because my logical husband made me question if what I'm doing, in writing about challenges my kids have, is ethical. Why do I have a right to post publicly about people other than myself? I thought I was doing the right thing to protect their privacy by not sharing their names or pictures, but then the pointed out that I had shared my name and picture, and that, with that info, someone could fairly easily identify them. I understood his point, but I was also annoyed that, when I shared that I had finally taken a step to do something I'd been dreaming about for years, his first reaction was to question if I was doing the right thing. This is especially important for Squirrelboy, since he is at an age where he's very sensitive to the way his peers view him, and he's not so many years from applying to schools and/or jobs, to which he may or may not want to reveal his disabilities.

Ultimately, since I'm writing this second entry, you can probably figure out that I decided to press on. I did, however, remove my  name and picture from the blog. So I ask that, if you're reading this and know me (which is everyone who reads this at this point), please feel welcome to share this blog widely, but remember not to share our names. I feel it's acceptable to continue in part because I've also cleared it with my family. As long as I keep them anonymous, they're okay with being written about on this blog.

This does bring up an interesting point about our society. When I was growing up in the 1980's, as a general rule, only people you'd actually met in person and saw fairly often knew about your day to day activities. You might tell your best friend or neighbor about the funny  or weird experience you had in the grocery store, but you wouldn't write something about it for hundreds or thousands of people to read, some of whom you'd never met. That is, however, how many of us (myself included) use social media. I don't think this is all bad. Facebook has allowed me to maintain relationships with people I would otherwise have completely lost touch with. However, it has also created a weird category of people I know slightly (fellow church members, for instance) and would normally not have a close relationship, but whose lives I know a surprisingly large amount about. I might not ever hang out with Sally from Sunday School, but I know her sister in law came over for a barbecue last weekend, she's looking forward to a trip to Disney World in October, and she supports universal background checks for gun sales. Sally is, in case it isn't obvious, not a real person, but Facebook "relationships" like that are very real. It's weird to have a window into what people are doing and what they feel strongly about when in any other context you don't know them well and they'd be unlikely to share that information with you.

Reading a blog written by a stranger or an acquaintance is like that too. This person you don't know or hardly know is giving you a window into their thoughts and/or lives that previously only have been given by a tiny subset of people who write memoirs. I have considered writing a blog for a long time, however, because I think there's at least as much potential good as potential bad in this somewhat strange circumstance that our society has created. During various points of my life, reading blogs related to a struggle or challenge I've been going through has been immensely helpful to me. Sometimes because the blogger had things to teach me and other times because it was helpful just to know that I wasn't the only one who had ever had these experiences or felt these feelings. I'm writing this blog in large part for myself, because I'm seeking a new way to express myself. However, I also hope that my thoughts and experiences can be helpful to some of my readers, whether they give practical advice or strategies or they just give reassurance that you're not the only person who has these feelings and these experiences.