Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Full Disclosure or Relative Obscurity

I vacillate between the two.

Over at The More, The Messier yesterday I won a contest. When I mailed the Suburban Correspondent my address so she could send my prize, she emailed me back and sent along some blogging tips. She suggested I give a little more freely of our details to make it easier on the newcomer to figure out the basics.

Makes sense to me. I know, when I first discover a blog, it is nice to have all the facts right there in front of me so I know who's who. So I started writing an "about me" blurb for my side bar. The more I wrote, and deleted, and wrote some more I realized that I don't know what I want people to know about me, so I stuck with the facts.

If I disclose that we homeschool, some will picture me in braids and a denim jumper before they even meet me. If that fact turns them off, they'll never stick around for the other fun stuff we do. If I merely mention homeschooling in my posts, some people will think "Oh wow, they homeschool, and they seemed so normal."

If I disclose that we have 5 kids, some will have expectations that I will never live up to. If I merely mention quite a few kids at a time, they may wonder if I do daycare? Or maybe they really do have a hand full of kids.

I have strong opinions about certain things, but usually will not voice them unless I am asked. I try not to whine and complain, but I'm human and sometimes it slips.

I guess what I want for people who discover my blog is to decide who we are on their own. I know the facts wouldn't hurt, but as far as our interests, I think you'll be able to figure them out if you stick around long enough.

We home school, but we haven't always.
Along with me and Matt there are 5 kids, 3 cats, and a tank full of fish living in our house.
Hailey (16)
Hayden (15)
Griffin (10)
Sam (6)
Isaac (4)
Our interests are varied and change on a daily basis.
We strive to do the right thing, but most of the time we don't know exactly what that is.


So there you have it. Happy medium. Obscure disclosure.

Stick around, if you figure us out, let me know, it might make my journey a littler easier.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

we are normal and we homeschool
what makes homeschoolers differnt is my question? humf!!
parker

Anonymous said...

go facts
azure

Kari said...

I know Parker, we ARE normal, but sometimes people who don't know any better think that because we educate differently than they do, that we're not.

Mrs. B.

gbmom2407 said...

SURE! you all think you're normal... Homeschool!?! Hey, if you can do it (or WANT to do it) more power to ya. And sometimes, it feels great getting it shoved down your throat too...**ducking now!**. Love ya, miss ya... we will have to find you soon.
Happy day.

HEATHER said...

Well, I came by from The More, The Messier. I LOVE your bus! I think that may be the coolest thing I have ever seen!
I will be homeschooling my young'un
beginning this fall, he's five. We try to be normal, but you know it's hard.
;-)