So, my mom reads my blog. (Hi, Mom!) She found the link on Cereal Wednesday a while back. She let me know she stumbled upon it there, then a few weeks ago I specifically kinda-sorta-asked her if she reads and she admitted that she does, although she reads as a blogger who enjoys my writing rather than as my mom who raised me and could potentially be judging me for the life I choose to live. I don’t change how I write for her, I just consider her part of the audience.
Two days ago I received an email from her asking if Dawg and I could come to Tennessee for Thanksgiving. She specifically wrote that my stepdad said, “I have an idea for Thanksgiving. Why don’t we invite Poppy and Dawg [SIC] to come.” I politely declined because Dawg and I already have plans, but I asked if we could instead come see them in “Novemberish” (which means we keep the plans loose until we know a firmer schedule for when we can visit). My mom emailed me back saying how excited she and my stepdad were that we would be coming down. We are excited as well, despite the lack of finality of plans at this point. I can’t wait to try out the guest quarters! (Last time I slept in my stepdad’s office on a single bed.)
I am still disturbed but amused that my stepdad is now calling us Poppy and Dawg as well.
I am not sure what I expected, it’s what we call ourselves pretty much everywhere online and, truth be told, it’s what we call each other behind closed doors too. It’s very rare for Dawg to call me by my given first name. It’s completely unheard of for me to call him by his first name unless I’m talking about him to someone.
And sometimes when Dawg calls me Poppy it suddenly makes me introspectively wonder… is all of this real? Or am I dreaming this? (If I’m dreaming it please let me keep sleeping, moreplease and thank you.)
We are the Bub and Cookie of our generation. (That makes sense to me and my mom, and that’s enough making sense for me.)
October 1st, 2008 at 1:59 am
I always found this neat about the Internet… We can’t change our parent-given names (without considerable trouble), but online, everybody is free to take a name that actually suits them. I actually often think of myself as “creature”, as well.
October 1st, 2008 at 3:44 am
I so need a nick name. :)
October 1st, 2008 at 6:59 am
Sooo… I should introduce you to Jared as Poppy and Dawg?
October 1st, 2008 at 7:35 am
Why is it that when everything is as it should be in our lives and especially when we’re extremely, ecstatically happy do we always having a nagging doubt that it’s not real?
For me, it’s because I don’t think I deserve to be THAT happy. That I don’t deserve to be loved THAT much. That I’m never good enough to have THAT much happiness.
I suspect that with everything you went through with you-know-who and how bad he made you feel about yourself and how much he hurt and that it was so unexpected, you that just the teeniest, tiniest little bit of fear that it will happen again still sits in the deepest part of your brain.
This is normal. Especially after the actual moving and changing your life chaos of the past month dies down to a dull roar and your heart says aloud, “Okay, so far so good but what’s next?”
It’s either that or you ate something that didn’t agree with your tummy.
October 1st, 2008 at 7:38 am
Hee. It’s strange when your mom starts reading your blog, huh? Mine does too. And my sisters read it, too!
October 1st, 2008 at 7:47 am
I was all good with a deep, witty, and introspective comment… until you said Cookie…
October 1st, 2008 at 9:00 am
I don’t like calling you Poppy when I see you and I don’t like calling Dawg “Dawg”. I like real names, dammit!
October 1st, 2008 at 9:19 am
So I wonder what everyone will call me at the Halloween party?! I don’t care – as long as I am there! :D
Hi, Poppy’s mom!
October 1st, 2008 at 11:12 am
No one in my real life calls me by my first name except certain members of my family. They don’t call me Earl either. Nope…every since I was a kid every calls me by my last name because it sounds like a nickname. Even Gia refers to me by my last name.
October 1st, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Does it matter if it is real or not? On the other hand I suppose being called Maman forever might be a bit odd
October 1st, 2008 at 12:49 pm
On the otherhand… I have ALWAYS hated my given name. It either evokes memories of someone’s childhood pooch (gee, thanks) or some ditzy, busty, slut. And I am NOT a ditz. Thankyouverymuch.
October 1st, 2008 at 1:06 pm
I think it’s sweet that you call each other Poppy & Dawg in private as well.
(Hi, Poppy’s mom!)
October 1st, 2008 at 2:04 pm
LOL
Well it’s good to know someone else’s mom reads their blog. I recently found out my dad is reading as well. Oh well;-)
It’s funny cause now I use Brad where before I used his (defunct) nickname. We have pet names that are private*giggle*.
October 1st, 2008 at 2:29 pm
I still find it odd when someone calls me by my name. And I have no nickname. I’m mom to my son and dear to my husband and frankly most people don’t ever call me by name. Who am i? Humm never paid attention. I do know when someone uses my real name I have to think to myself “oh, me.”
October 1st, 2008 at 2:43 pm
I respect that you are true to your voice. My mom reads my blog as well and she’s probably mildly confused but we need to say what we want to say without worrying about our blog approval rating.
I think if I ever see you on a suburban Boston street I will call you the Popster.
October 1st, 2008 at 3:32 pm
I have one friend (Shiny) who I still call by his blog name even though we’re close enough to use real names. Whenever I say his real name, it still feels a bit odd to me and I have no idea why!
Although it is not a far stretch, I am not used to people using the full “Hilary” when they talk to me either…it always sort of surprises me.
October 1st, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Creature, before I was with Dawg I didn’t consider myself Poppy in my daily life. It’s a very odd transition to make. And I’m enjoying it.
Robin, whenever you comment I instantly think of “Bellaventa” because that’s your blog address. Maybe you could find something to play on that name…? I dunno, picking a blog name is very personal so I’m not qualified to help you further.
Britt, you can introduce us whichever way you prefer. When I meet bloggers I say I’m Poppy. When I meet blogger spouses I still say I’m Poppy. (My best friend’s husband calls me Poppy instead of Stef…)
Mattie, you brought tears to me eyes with that comment. You’ve nailed it on the head exactly. I still have problems with allowing myself to feel that I deserve good things after losing so much of myself just a short time before. I’m guessing with time and Dawg’s continued lavishing of love for me I’ll stop worrying about this. I definitely catch myself thinking in terms of my old life sometimes and I have to snap out of it and remember I’m in a much happier place. Thank you for your comment and your honesty.
Bearette, I’m not sure if my brother reads my blog but my mom showed him some Cereal Wednesday episodes and he was sucked in instantly. I wonder if he’s continuing to watch. I should ask him, and then invite him to read my blog.
Dawg, arghhhhhhhhh!!!! I want the introspection, dammit! Pretend I didn’t say Cookie.
Avi, you’re so full of shit. You even told me once you can’t think of me by my real name and then another time that you think of Dawg as Dawg. But, you’re more than welcome to call us by our given names.
Sybil, it’s a party. I’d call you Sybil unless you told me to call you something else even though I know your real name.
BEE-bzzt, at two jobs ago people used to call me by my first initial and last name run together, because it’s so much fun to say.
Maman, that’s weird, I love your given first name. And I don’t associate it with anything bad.
Sour, me too. I’m still getting used to it. I’m one of those people who say people’s names in my brain but not necessarily out my mouth. Getting used to using his name (Dawg) instead of using no name at all. I don’t know why I do this, considering once I know your name I pretty much know it for life.
Turn, I don’t think my dad is reading… I know he looks at my flickr photos but that’s only because I invited him too. Dawg has pet names for me that are private. I won’t be sharing those here.
Foggy, is it a case of being misnamed at birth? For a while I thought I was misnamed at birth, but I got over it. Some people are definitely misnamed…
Dan, I bet a lot of things about my life were a surprise to my mom when she first started reading because for most of my life I was very uncomfortable with showing my loved ones the real me… as if they would not accept me for who I really am. Now I am finally grown up enough to realize they love me and they either accept me or they don’t. I’d totally call you “Dan the Man” if I saw you. Heehee!
Hilly, I never think of you as Hilary. Sorry. Shiny doesn’t look like his real name, so I understand this. The first time I found out Dawg’s real name I asked him if that was really his name because his first name (at least the nickname version of it) … just doesn’t fit for me. I am really glad he lets me call him Dawg.
October 1st, 2008 at 4:27 pm
I think it’s so cute that they refer to you two as Poppy and Dawg! And you are so lucky that your mom reads your blog like a *normal* person. My mom used my blog to stalk me like a crazy person until I finally made it private and then opened a new blogger account under a fake name with a different email address so she wouldn’t be able to find me.
October 1st, 2008 at 4:28 pm
I use my real name for blogging. However, I have started IMing with a few people I met through World of Warcraft and discovered similar interests, and despite me having given them my real name, they call me by my game nickname. And it’s funny, because it feels as real as if they call me Lynda.
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Yanno, Darren and I met online, and every now and then I call him Flukie (short for truefluke). I’ve changed my screen name several times – when we met, I went by Hemlock, but he kept calling me Hemmie, which is what my friend’s mom calls her hemorrhoids. I wasn’t OK with that.
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:39 pm
PS: re: your post title: “…said George Powell to his bride…”
October 3rd, 2008 at 7:34 pm
My mom reads my blog sometimes too. I don’t think she reads every little thing, but she likes to be able to stop in and check on me to see how I am doing. My sister and some of my cousins read sometimes as well.
I think it is cute that you guys call each other by your blog persona names. I think of you as Poppy and as Stef, but Poppy comes to mind first when I think of you.
October 5th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
I don’t think I would take it nearly as well as you if I found out my mom read my blog. And I haven’t even written about “Hi-ing” any time recently… Glad it’s working out for you, though. :-)
October 6th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Mrs. M, trust me, I know how lucky I am about my mom not being a psycho…
Lynda, most bloggers call me Poppy when they meet me. All but B, pretty much. It’s my identity now.
K, you are not a Hemmie!!!
Jen, it amuses me that you think of me as Stef too. I sometimes wonder what people thought my real name was before I became less private.
Stef, at least my mom now gets to see what an amazing daughter she gave birth to, so she gets to take full credit for that!
October 6th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
My nickname is “Punkin.”
“Delmer” or “Punkin” … neither work very well behind closed doors.
October 7th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Delmer, you have the same nickname as one of the Flavor of Love rejects (a girl… or, rather, a whore). Time for a new nickname. How about “melDer”? Hmm, no. I dunno.