Why Country Mouse?

Remember Aesop’s fable about The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse?  That’s me, in several ways.  On the simplest level, I spent the last few years living in an urban metropolis (called simply Big City on the blog).  With my marriage disintegrating, I’ve returned to my hometown, Function Junction, in the rural American South.

On  another level, that fable speaks of the wisdom of enjoying a life that may not be one dreams are made of, but which has its own charms — rather than chancing destruction in unwisely seeking to live beyond your means.  This doesn’t mean that I think you shouldn’t try to live your dreams, but I do think you have a better chance of living those dreams if you build a foundation for them to stand on.

(Horrible mixed metaphor, I know.  Tough luck.  Live with it.)

Why Whatever Works?

It’s a phrase that applies not only to parenting (which is where I’ve heard it most often) but to many other aspects of life.  From parents who judge other parents for putting rice cereal in their eight-month-old’s bottle or for breastfeeding a two-year-old, to the people who keep quiet about their lifestyle choices because they don’t want to deal with being shunned socially for something that’s no one else’s damned business, to the people who can’t talk openly about how they deal with clinical depression without being judged for their illness…  I honestly say, “Whatever works for you.”  I may not think your choices are the theoretical best choices that could possibly be made, but if it’s working for you and for your family, it’s none of my business.

Why “Not for the Faint of Heart?”

Dude.  I’m working 70 hours a week, raising a two-year-old, fighting red tape to get said two-year-old the therapies he’s entitled to, taking college classes, living in a community in which I can’t state my political and religious beliefs bluntly without hurting people I care about, trying to get some professional certifications, and writing a blog just for the hell of it.  Would you choose to live this life?  Didn’t think so.

Why the hell am I writing a boring blog?

I don’t know.  Why the hell are you reading it?

No, seriously, why are you blogging?

Because I’m the family bitch.  Because it’s cheaper to open an account with a free blogging service than to go out and buy a baby book that probably won’t have spaces for the things I care about recording.  Because sometimes I have something I want to say and need a place to say it.

Then why are you anonymous?

Because my ex has pulled some asinine stunts over the past couple of years.  I’ve also experienced some cyberstalking from an unknown perpetrator.   So, I’m not using my or my son’s real names here, or photos of either of us, and I’m keeping most of our identifying details off this site.  (And if you think you’ve found an identifying detail?  I’m probably lying.)