Omaha Nesties
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
a very weird WWYD
I've been saving this one for a rainy day. Warning: I feel I am making myself vulnerable and letting my "freak flag" fly a little bit, but I know you ladies will give me feedback to ponder!
So I have kept a journal since I was in third grade. (I keep one now that is very brief, but I do a better job of keeping a journal for DD about her milestones.) Since I met my DH, I haven't been very regular about writing in one. Funny how you have less to say when you are so happy, and less time to write! Now that I am now in my early 30s, I have about 15 volumes or so of journals I've filled up throughout my life. They are kind of fun to look back on, especially since I was an English teacher and writing is a huge part of me. BUT...most of what I used to write about included whatever guy I was obsessing over, typical angst-filled teenage drama. Then, the journals I kept during my 20s (before I met DH) were somewhat more of the same, but with more of the rest of my life (career, friends, family) mixed in as I matured beyond obsessing over crushes.
My issue is: What do I do with these? Specifically, if my children were to find them? Or, if I die suddenly and my H, my parents/family, or kids find them? I guess I am less worried about my dead self being embarrassed about what I wrote when I was young (LOL) but I do wonder how those things will make my loved ones feel. How could they NOT read something so personal of mine? The teenage stuff is pretty laughably silly, but the stuff from my 20s discusses things like sex and relationships with guys who are not my DH...nothing pornographic or anything, but still very personal, maybe upsetting or awkward for them to read. Innermost thoughts, very intmate stuff. Make sense?
I have considered all options and angles: getting rid of them, locking them in a box and keeping them, appointing someone to dispose of them if I were to die, etc. I still feel like if I just threw them away, a stranger could read them. (Paranoid, much? I know.) And that they are specific memories that are special. I am kind of beside myself on this one, almost cracking up at how ridiculous I must sound. Getting rid of them makes sense. Keeping them makes sense. Both options kind of make me cringe.
Any thoughts?
Re: a very weird WWYD
I trashed all mine. Dude, there is WAY too much embarassing stuff for people to find.. no way!
omg, long after I'd moved out of my parents house my younger brother (who was about 16 at the time) found my APPLICATION FOR THE REAL WORLD that I never sent in, from when I was like 19.
O
M
G
I was the biggest jerkoff loser you've ever met in your entire life, seriously! I still die a little when I think about it. My brother would not leave me alone about it, reciting quotes from the application and what not.
I'm hot right now, I cant believe I even just shared that.
Ha! This is very good advice for MANY arenas of my life. LOL, thanks
I was thinking the same thing.
I know a friend of mine really cherishes anything with her mother's handwriting on it... especially in this day and age when we use computers for so much. (Her mom passed away a few years ago unexpectedly).
Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahaha! Also, was?
Anyway, since you've gone this far, will you now share the time you shyt YOUR pants - twice?
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Wilwarin said it well. I know I would love to read my mom's thoughts when she was younger. I think it helps each generation to connect better, knowing that we all really did go through the same [types of] things. Keep 'em!
I agree with what you said about handwriting. The everyday quality about it is so special. I have a hard time throwing away birthday cards, etc. from people who have passed away because it has their handwriting.
That's why I'd torch everything I owned before I'd leave it for people to read.
Let me remind you that that information was shared VIA TEXT MESSAGE and not ON THE INTERNET. But, thank you!
Ooh, I wanted it BAD. I still think I'd have made an excellent cast member.
I would keep any current ones - like from when you started dating DH until now. Once from grade school/high school (if it didn't include DH) I would toss. I had a notebook that me and my bff in high school wrote notes to back and forth. I threw it away since we are no longer friends and I don't want to read about the boys I used to have a crush on.
I say to keep the current ones for your children to one day read. Not only to see the handwriting like pp mentioned, but also the memories and how times have changed.
My grandparents used to write notes back and forth. They had phones but my grandpa traveled a lot so writing was easier. My grandma tossed a bunch of them but found some and gave them to my mom. We love reading them (some get kind of dirty but it is still fun).
Oh "shyt!" That's right! (Sorry.)
Okay, fine. Will you at least tell us what the RW app said? Damn, you would've made SUCH a good roomie on that show!
I think that was right around the time I shyt my pants, too... talk about good TV.
And no, I will no reveal what it said. Oh, Jesus.. so bad! My brother still talks about it..
You would have been the biitch of the house huh? (which of course is why we all watch!)
Not ridiculous at all! I think you should find a way to honor them somehow, because they are a testimony of your past.
Just my story, but I've been writing for decades. When I married DH 2 years ago I worried, "What would he think if he read them?" for awhile, but then I realized that he's just not the kind of person who goes snooping. And if he did read them one day (for example, if I died) he would realize that the experiences and reflections that I wrote about helped make me who I am (and who I am not) today.
I ended up putting them with other items in the basement storage room. They're in a box that has cards, photos, letters, newspaper clippings, etc. all piled on top. It's the kind of box that he wouldn't throw away, but wouldn't go digging into either or mistake for something of his. Someday I'll probably do something else with them, but for now they're there, and if for some reason they would get destroyed (fire, etc.) I would feel okay about it.
I echo eveyone's pps about your kids finding them someday and being GRATEFUL.
Sara
I know I'm a little late here, but I can relate. I have also kept journals since Jr. High, and have stopped writing for the most part since I met DH. I have mine in huge totes in my parents storage room, because I really don't want my DH to read them..at least not right now. I trust my parents, and honestly I don't think they *want* to read them, lol.
My husband knows I've kept a journal in the past, but he has NO idea how many of them there are!