Monday, February 23, 2009

Dear Diary

Daughter D has been begging for months to read "Diary of Anne Frank" and I put it off over and over again. Explaining genocide was just not something I was prepared to do. But finally, I caved and we got the book and started it. She regularly reads the world news in the newspaper. I figured if she could handle Rwanda, we could tackle the Holocaust.

I haven't read the book since I was a pre-teen. Like just about everything else I've re-read, it is a completely different book when you read it at the age of 40. It is horrifying. Absolutely and utterly horrifying. Humans did this to other humans.

Daughter D is doing fine with the book. Me, not so much.

As we were reading, I told Daughter D that I used to keep a diary or two and that I thought they were somewhere in the basement somewhere. She immediately wanted to see them, so we went searching and found a huge box, full to the brim of various notebooks/diaries/journals/datebooks.

I couldn't believe it. There were more than 25 of them. I remember keeping diaries and at one point, I must have thrown them all into a box. But I had no idea that there were so many. I started in 5th grade and really didn't ever stop until I had my first child.

I had visions of us reading them together and gleaming great pearls of wisdom from my life experience.

ha. That is NOT going to happen.

It turns out that I went slightly boy-crazy sometime around 6th grade. I think it is safe to say that 60% of my writings were about the boy-du-jour. And about all sorts of other adventures that I seem to have blocked from my memory. My recollection of my childhood was that I was a perfectly behaved slightly nerdy good student. The nerdy/good student part seems to be correct. But evidently, I was not perfectly behaved.

Is this another symptom of parenthood? Do you subconciously block out all the crazy things you've done in life as you try to show your children the straight and narrow path to success? Because seriously, half the stuff I'm reading - I didn't even remotely remember until I read it.

Should I burn these damn diaries? Or save them for my grandchildren? (my children will NOT be reading them!)

4 comments:

Vicki aka Diva Mom said...

I promise never to post any of the KMT photos I have of you, if you rip out and destroy any pages of your diary that may incriminate me...

Bridgett said...

Yeah...I didn't save mine. But I do have my high school sweetheart notes down in the basement, and those I will let someone "find" eventually.

Anonymous said...

Very off topic here- I apologize for that but I saw your comment over at Foodmomiac and I wanted to ask you- how do you find out how to be a "Big Sister" to a family over spring break? That is a FANTASTIC idea but my kids aren't in school yet (4 & 2 1/2) so I don't know where to check/to inquire.

There are sooo many things I'd love to do to help- sometimes I wish I'd hear more about HOW to help. I can't give cash all the time but what I can give- love, time, food, clothes, I want to whenever possible!

If you know a good way to find out how to be a big sis- let me know. I'd love to do this over this year's spring break.

Thanks for your help! Sorry it's so off topic!!
(my e-mail is lindsay.lebresco@gracobaby.com)

LisaS said...

i still have my journals, but there's a big heavy tube-type TV on top of the trunk .... no, the kids don't get to read them. because i was not nerdy but not particularly well behaved ...