The Day My Mom Read My Blog

My mother uses her very, very, very old cell phone only for an emergency (think accident), considers texting evil, and has abhors the concept of plastering pictures on social media.  Once, long ago, my brother brought her a computer; however, he quickly removed it to maintain his own sanity!  I mute my phone and do not respond to texts or messages in her presence as a sign of respect for our time together and because seeing anyone walking around talking or texting on a cell is the source of angst!  However,  yesterday, my mother sat in her chair with my cell in her hand, scrolling through pages, commenting at times, and reading my blog like a kid who had just discovered a wonderful, new world! 

This whole wacky series if events started as we were talking about my own writing and publishing dreams.  I told her that I write about "teacher stuff" but that I also model a writerly life for my grad students.  I demonstrate in real time how the "slices" of my life become the "seeds" of texts and how they become stronger through reflection and revision.  My mom asked if I could show her something I had written, and so, I opened to a recent page I thought she might find interesting.  I handed her the phone.  To be honest, my heart skipped a beat as I handed her the phone. 

I sat there, a little scared that maybe, I had written something too personal for her taste.  I showed her how to scroll down the page and how to "restart" the phone when it went dark.  She sat in silence for a long while and then said, "I could have told you about skiing on Jobberberg Mountain.  I went there once to watch them jump!"  I never knew that!

I know that reading small print can be hard for her, and I have trouble reading more than short texts on the cell phone, so I offered to read a few to her; however, she vehemently responded, "I want to read them myself."  And, on her own, she read all the posts on that "mobile phone page,"  skipping over the ones she declared "for teachers."  With a little bit of excitement in her eyes, she asked, "Can I see more?" 

With a serious face, she asked if I had written any about marriage.  It was not easy to find, but I did.  "Your dad was a wise man," she noted with a bit of a tear in her eye.  Then, and only then, she asked if I had written any about her.  I sure am glad I did.

Finally, I showed her the here-to-for evil social media: Facebook and Twitter.  I provided pictures of great-grandchildren playing on the beach that very same day!  She wanted more!  I showed her, proudly, a Mother's Day tweet from my own child!  She asked for more!

Finally, I really had to leave and I needed to take my cell phone with me! "This has been fun," she said happily. 

"I'll be back with more for you to read," I promised, knowing full well that in the future, I will be able to share posts, pictures and messages!  I also made a mental note to myself to get a "mobile airport" so that she can read my blog on a somewhat larger and easier to read-on tablet computer!    

I am pretty sure there are several "morals" to this story.
1) Putting our thoughts and words on paper is a powerful experience.
2) Don't "publish" unless you would be "OK" if your mom read it.
3) Grandchildren and Great-grandchildren: Don't put anything into writing that you don't want your Grandmother (or Nan to M, S, M, M, M, M, E, L, M, C, G) to find!  She just might! 

Thank you TWT for hosting SOL and making me feel like a writer!