Sunday, June 6, 2010

WHY i keep my blog anonymous.

Because I have not told any of my friends about my blog, only a select few (like less than 5?) & i have my reasons.

1) I know of friends who yearn to be home teaching their kids but cannot due to work, financial or family commitments. I hate the idea that my blog would make them feel guilty or lesser as a mother for not doing what im doing.

I have to pause here and say that just because you haven't been teaching your child at home (for whatever reasons) doesn't mean he/she will lag behind. I believe these children will eventually catch up in one way or another i.e. in school or maybe when they become an adult. So don't feel bad if your child is seemingly slower acadamically. It is still too early to tell how they will be like in future.

Similarly, just because N is alittle more knowledgable than kids his age now, i am slow to assume that he'd be a straight A student. Because he is still too young for us to predict such things and one will never know what the future holds. Moreover, there are many aspects to the word 'intelligence' and it does not always refer to acadamics. A child is also considered intelligent if he/she excels in other areas like music, sports, arts etc.

2) Every parent thinks their kiddo is smart & i am no exception. However, call me odd but i dislike it when my friends start to view N as intelligent or smart. Because that would put a high expectation and thus unnecessary pressure on him to perform. Hence, i rather my friends see N as any toddler. Therfore, i am hiding this blog from them in case they form any of such impressions. Although like any proud parent i sometimes want to shout it out loud for everybody to know! :P

However, because of N's reserve personality and inability to speak clearly, he is often viewed as 'slower'  by people around us. When that happens, i find myself furiously defending him by telling my friends that he actually knows this, knows that etc. To which, they would politely praise him but probably walk away thinking im bragging. At times like this, i feel like giving them my blog to read but yet for reasons mentioned above, i hold myself back. In other words, i'd much rather they see him as 'slow' than 'smart' because then, N would exceed their expectations rather than fall short from it.

But why then did i bother to start this blog anyway? Because as i said, like any proud parent i want to talk about my son's achievement but more so, i just want to record it down. So what better way than hiding behind a screen name and still protect my interest.

So there! I've given you alittle trivia about me, the anonymous author of this blog. It's totally irrelevant to what i've been writing. Somehow i feel silly saying all these but i don't know why i just feel like blogging it down! :)

4 comments:

  1. Firstly, I HEART YOUR BLOG. Because it gives me such inspiration!

    Secondly, I can relate. I'm a stay-at-home mum. My son clings on to me like crazy and is very unlike most of the ang-moh friends he has here! He doesn't do very well at swimming, he doesn't do very well at music classes because he clings to me and is not outspoken.

    Thirdly, ah, yes, we all do want our kids to be smart. It's only natural. But we do the best we can to expose them to whatever we feel that is "right" for their learning curve. Don't bother with those comments from your friends. (easy to say, hard to do!)

    N and you are doing such a great job! Somebody once told me this once "children grow up so quickly so savour every moment of discovery through his eyes and you will be filled with lots of joy and happiness." Can I have an AMEN to that! ha!

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  2. Hi! I can understand you :-)
    First of all, I must say that I love love love your blog. So many interesting posts!

    I don't have children yet - I'm a Montessori teacher 3-6 and I'm writing about Montessori activities in my classroom on my blog Leptir (it means butterfly in Croatian).
    BUT I haven't told people around me about my blog. Only my parents and sister and one aunt know that I'm writing a blog about my job, but they are doing complitely different type of work, so they are not that much interested in reading my ramblings; except them I've told about it to my colleague from my Montessori group - she like it, but is jelauos :-( , and my other two friends whom I've told - one is really happy for me because she knows I love this job and I love posting, and she's thinking that my activities are very interesting; but my other friend is also jealous (she's a Montessori teacher too, in other kindergarten) and she can't stand that our other colleagues (they find my blog by accident) praised my work.
    I'm sorry for that, so I just decided not to talk about my blog. I didn't hide my real name on photos, but I will not call any of the colleagues with whom I work to see what I'm writing about.
    I'm satisfied, if no one else, colleagues from the Internet and parents of children with whom I work price my efforts.

    Kisses from Croatia :-)

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  3. HEllo!!

    I am humbled by your compliments, thank you very much. I feel very encouraged.

    I kinda contradict myself, one moment i don't want people to think my son as smart, but another, i also get mad when people see him as slow. duh! But i learnt to accept that its ok what other people think, as long as my husband & i think a world of our son is enough!

    Leptir: exactly! I dont want my blog to evoke feelings of jealousy or envy in my friends. But your colleagues should've been more encouraing and happy for you. I think you're an excellent teacher! I wish you were here and be my son's teacher! Most montessori teachers here are well...not as passionate as you sadly.

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  4. WOW, Homeschool@sg, what a compliments :-) I'm glad you like my activities; thanks for kind & nice words :-)

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