"ok, jenn, because you opened the door...to your spelling gaffes, i did notice another one. in the "about me" section on your blog, you wrote "breath" when you meant "breathe." i did notice the "kudzu" mistake before, but i didn't want to say anything because people can get quite offended if you point out spelling errors. ;-) "
Let me first point out, I never knew what great editors I had in my friends. : ) I mean, if I ever draft a book I will publish it here first because I think you guys would do a TERRIFIC job. : )
Dallas was right about a couple things. The first one being the "e" in breathe. The second one being how offended people get if you point out spelling errors, or any error for that matter. A spelling error is a spelling error, if you ask me. It's not an indictment. And even though I make a zillion spelling and grammatical errors each year, alas, I still wake up breathing. There are bigger fish to fry.
As I read her email, I pondered this thought: It seems so often we are embarrassed for things we shouldn't be. Like being caught without make-up (gasp) or having someone stop by when your house isn't clean (ah!) or forgetting to make something for the pot-luck (insolent fool)or wearing the same dress as another mom! (The horror. The complete and utter horror.)
Then, there's all the stuff that should completely unnerve us, but it doesn't. Like:
- Like paying $698 for one of these. Or...
- Gossiping about our friends and family and people we care about most. Or...
- Taking our children to the park and talking on the cell phone the entire time we're there. Or...
- Using the word "retarded." Or...
- Four hours on facebook. Or...
- Getting drunk...(or more specifically the things one does and says when drunk) Or...
- Being Pro-Choice and never directly supporting the choice "to have a child." Or...
- Being Pro-Life and never directly supporting a woman who is choosing "to have a child." Or...
- Putting down the stay-at-home-mom for "going-crazy" at home and "not reaching for her full potential" and "throwing her college education down the toilet" Or...
- Putting down the working mom for "putting herself first" or "not caring about her kids" Or...
- Putting down the homeschooling mother for "raising weird kids" or "being too overprotective" Or...
- Putting down mothers who send their kids to "the evil public school system" Or...
- Not letting the other mother with a screaming kid get in front of you at the grocery store because, hey, you were there first. Or...
- Listening to Jessica Simpson. ; ) Or...
- When you are running for President and your grandma poses for a photo holding a chicken. (Forgive me, I couldn't help myself. And besides, I never promised you a bi-partisan blog. ; )
I mean, if I'm going to go through that icky stomach feeling, possible hives, light-headedness...you know, true symptoms of embarrassment. Please let it be for something worthy.
Going forward. Please feel free to correct my misspellings, the spinach in my front teeth, and if I use the words "foie gras" when I mean "faux pas." No worries. More importantly though, help me live an honorable life by not letting me really embarrass myself. Don't let me be a hypocrite to my code of beliefs. It's my spirit that wants to be refined, much more than my vocabulary. Do this with your kind and direct words. And do this with your actions. Let your actions remind me that we're in this together as women and mothers. So at the end of the day our only worries can be the extra "t" in bitten and my flagrant abuse of ellipses. ; )
