Alternate YOUniverse

I recently went back on Anne's blog to delete and rewrite a comment I had left on there. I thought it maybe sounded a little more critical than I meant it. I also thought I might have sounded a little braggy (MY kids ALWAYS eat their veggies! What's the matter with YOURS?) Since, by the time I returned to make the change, she had already responded to my message, and she already knows that I'm critical and braggy (she has for about 31 years) I decided to leave it anyway.

I keep kind of feeling like I'm writing too much stuff without giving the whole story (and you guys are all, "Oh, you give PLENTY of story, Lis!"). I think it's the apologizer in me. I have a hard time presenting things to anyone, be it food, lodging, a gift (I don't really do gifts anymore, to keep the apologizer in me at bay) , and now apparently posting on my blog, without giving a list of reasons why it's not as good as it should be or isn't as good as it may sound. It's like I can't let people just decide for themselves. Or not care for themselves. "Oh, these brownies really didn't turn out this time. I accidentally put in too much vanilla!" Heaven forBID anyone think that I NORMALLY make my brownies that vanilla-y!

That's one thing I love about blogging. You can create your own little YOUniverse. When posting about the trip to the zoo, you don't even have to mention the hour long fit the toddler threw which overshadowed most of the fun stuff. Just talk about the fun stuff, and suddenly, you realize, "Hey! That was a GREAT day!" Mention your preference for Indian food, using a few real Indian names of real Indian dishes, and everyone accidentally thinks you're an Indian food expert. Talk about how your baby has a fetish with wiping things (particularly the coffee table and the kitchen floor) and his mom must be a clean freak. Or the table and floor are so dirty that even the baby feels the need to do something about it.*

I love having my own little MEniverse. My real life is full to the brim of kids and taking care of kids and kid stuff (which I LOVE), but it's nice to have place where I'm not "mom" or even "honey." Just Lisa. Here I have occasional visits from the kids, but mostly it's Lisa's world. I can include any of the good I want and leave out as much of the bad as I can. Still, some of the not so lovely details WILL leak in. Details like how very, very often I yell at my kids. Or like how I use Baby Einstein as a babysitter or never stop eating baked goods. But besides minor leaks like that, I just love being able to dam back the rest of the negative, leaving just a nice, refreshing pool of the...um...let's say "real me."

*All incidents and characters are fictitious. If any example resembles reality it is coincidental.