Don't Judge Me By Who I Follow

I joined Twitter a few weeks back for one reason and one reason only - my teenager has an account and spends WAY too much time on it.  I decided that the responsible thing to do would be to get my own account and follow her.

I really don't like Twitter that much.  There's little to no interaction.  No privacy settings.  Just random tweets that often have more hashtags and mentions than real content, which make them really irritating to read, in my humble opinion.

At any rate, if you go to my account and see who I follow, you will see an inordinate number of people usually relegated to teens and preteens.  Cody Simpson, Alli Simpson, One Direction, each individual member of 1D, Justin Bieber, Justin Bieber's manager (or something)...  The list goes on.  "Why?" you may ask.  The answer is really quite simple.  I don't sign out of my account, and when Charisma goes on my computer, she gets her kicks out of following people who interest her.  I'd say she is responsible for clicking on a good third of the people I follow.

Now, I know what you're thinking - why not just unfollow them?  It's a simple click, and then I wouldn't have to read all of Justin Bieber's tweets, and I wouldn't know that Harry Styles ate a sandwich until Charisma told me.  It's not like they would notice that their numbers went down by one. I wouldn't be hurting anyone's feelings.

You see, it's like this.  Now I can see what interests my teen, which really was the reason I signed up in the first place.  I can find out for myself what the public life of the people she admires is like.  And when she asks, "So you know what the boys did today?" I can tell her.  And I sometimes know before she finds out, which kind of ticks her off and makes me smile just a little.

And yes, sometimes I respond to these tweets that I read.  I mean, once in awhile, they're actually quite interesting.

So don't judge me by who I follow.  I'm not trying to be young again.  I'm not fangirling.  I'm just trying to be a part of my daughter's life.  And that, my friends, is worth it.

Not Single Parenting

Darryl's not home.  He left early this morning and won't return until Wednesday evening.  Work trip.  Lots of wives out there know what those are like - the men travel, they stay at home and do the house things.  (Not saying it doesn't go the other way, too.  This is just more common.)  One of my biggest pet peeves is when I hear these women (or men) comment that they are "single parenting this week."  No, no you're not.

Yes, life here is harder when Darryl is gone.  Suddenly I'm responsible for supper clean-up, baby baths, and all the other things he does when he's home.  I am very blessed to have an incredibly helpful husband, and I miss that when he's gone.  I also don't have his arms wrapped around me, don't get to kiss him goodnight, can't just talk the way we do when he's home.  I miss all these things, and more.

But it doesn't come close to single parenting.

I don't have to suddenly come up with the money to pay the bills and put food on the table.  Heck, I still HAVE a mortgage.  I'm not paying someone else's because I don't qualify for one.  I can still text him during the day, talk to him on the phone, Skype him before bed.  I know that even though he's not here, he's still supporting me.  And I know that this time of being alone with the house and the kids will come to an end in a few days.

I won't always be the one putting all the kids to bed.

I won't always have to do all the housework, or at least whatever I can get done.

I won't always have to be the only one in charge of discipline.

I won't always go to bed alone.

It's just a few days.

So, ladies (and men), next time your spouse is out of town and you're tempted to tell everyone how you have to "single parent," please don't insult the true single parents out there by trying to equate the next few days (or even weeks) to what they do every day.  Because it may be tougher, but it doesn't even come close.