Tue 26 Feb 2008
Daddy, Why Do You Write About Me?
Posted by Meta-Dad under life , parent stuff , the good, the bad, and the otherwise , what's going on??I know the title sounds like dialog ripped from a Woody Allen film but really I’m waiting for the day my kid’s become privy to my blogging efforts. But after re-reading David Hochman’s ever-pertinent (2005) Article, “Mommy (and Me),“ from the New York Times, it has me thinking about why I still do this and more importantly why I started in the first place.
I started blogging as a way to learn more about the things that concern me about my kids’ health; not really a personal journal because (to me) that would be boring. Rather, it would be a heavily referenced and indexed pile of notes that I (and of course everyone else) could take advantage of. I chose to take the somewhat academic route not because of some strange lust for expository writing but because I have a hard time believing the sources I come across. What I have discovered along the way is the most important thing to me about my own writing is to share with you my references and be sure the sites and articles I references are fully transparent to you. There is a lot of dubious information out there that is conjecture and misguided or incomplete at best.
Hochman’s article is interesting because even though it was written over three years ago it still rings true with regards to the landscape of parent blogging - for better or worse. I don’t have the money to quote the article directly but the gist of it is summed up quite succinctly by a LA psychiatrist sited in the article who basically says it is (our) drive to rise above the invisibility and the banality of parenting and be seen and heard by the rest of world.
Parts of the article tend to feel a bit acrid but upon closer examination he is merely raising a mirror to some and if his words make us cringe a little (or perhaps laugh nervously), then that’s your dish to deal with. David is a neighbor and I happen to know he is a dad, himself. He seems like a nice guy and a good dad. Upon writing this simple observation about the guy adds another dimension to the said article, there is probably a self-reflexive aspect to his article and that is in my mind what makes the article most poignant.
Sited Links:
New York Times | Mommy (and Me)
Related Links:
Details Magazine | Are You Raising A Douchebag?
February 26th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Hi
Interesting article, both yours and the mommy and me one. I started my blog as a way to get out the story of the birth of my twin girls. In a way I would say it is a journal of my and their lives. Is it boring or vain to write about such things? Well I guess that will differ from person to person. I wouldn’t say so but that is one opinion. I have no idea what direction my blog will go in the future but I hope that other people will appreciate it as well as myself.
My opinion for what its worth is that there is room on the internet for as may parent blogs as will fit. There are dozens of different angles on the subject so why not have them all. People will read them if they want to read them.
Michael
February 26th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
I agree with both of you. My plan was to creat a spot that I could leave a legacy to my sons. Having lost a child this year I hope that as my living children read about what we say they know how much they were loved by me and their mother.