Privacy, then and now.

In my past life, I was an open book. Always WAY too eager to tell all, to explain every little detail so that my (unfortunate) listener would have "the whole picture". I prided myself on having no secrets. My attitude was "If I have nothing secret, nothing to hide, then no one can use it against me."


I'd like to think that I'm a little older and wiser now. (Older, to be sure. Wiser - sometimes?) Plus, I have the privacy of others to be concerned with; namely, my family. I don't want my children to be Googled in ten years and be passed over for a promotion due to some young-adult-returning-home-unclear-over-boundaries skirmish. I don't want their prospective dates checking them out on the Web and reading about their mother scolding them for getting a tattoo. Or leaving their underwear in the washer for three days straight. Or not putting away their dirty dishes into the dishwasher (Brandon, that cereal bowl is YOURS, we all know it. Deal with it. And thank you.)



Against my regular penchant for complete honesty, I've changed names, identifying details, and locations; all to protect the innocent. I'm not THAT hard to track down, should you find the need to. But I'd like to make it just a wee bit difficult, for those that have nothing better to do than stalk and harrass. I want to have fun and share our stories with everyone, but not expose the kids to the point of being uncomfortable, or embarassed that their mother shared Personal Details with the Entire World. On the INTERNET!!!



One very good reason for my initial euphoria at having the kids back is that I feel I need to make up for some earlier family dysfunction during their late teenage years. I'd rather not go into all the reasons here, but suffice it to say that I made some bad decisions, unwise choices, and those not only affected me, but both Brandon and Rebecca as well. They had been living with their father since age 16-17. I missed them dreadfully, and though I saw them often, it wasn't the same as having them live with ME. So now - here's my chance to make up some of the time we missed back then, create some good memories; and I think I can share some of what we're going through without thoroughly embarassing them, today or in the future.