It Wasn't About Me

After completing a few blogs, I decided to send them to my daughter, Rachel. She is also a writer, and I thought she might enjoy them. A few minutes later, I received an e-mail stating that the blogs were very enjoyable, but "thanks for not mentioning me in either one."
Now the subject of the first blog was about my 6th grade son's school conference. Upon review, I was pretty sure that it would have been tough to introduce her into the subject at hand. The second one concerned my cabinet full of kitchen mugs and the meaning behind some of them Now again, Rachel has never given me a mug,or even discussed said mugs with me, so I was doubtful that I could have brought her into that one either.
Feeling a bit let down and searching for some support, I sent my husband a link to the blog and asked him to read them at his convenience. A short time later, I received an e-mail stating " very enjoyable, but I notice I was not mentioned in either one". Now, this was troubling on so many levels since a) he WAS mentioned b) he was mentioned towards the end of the piece and c) who cares if was mentioned anyway? What this immediately told me was that he had not bothered to read more than a couple of sentences. When I responded back and asked him, his answer was that "if you are not mentioned in the first paragraph, it does not matter."
Again, I was a little disappointed, but I recalled that he had also bristled last year when I started a fictional novel with two characters called Nina and Ben. I have in the past written a novel that used my husband as the "leading man", but this particular story was not about him, nor anyone else we know. Purely fictional. There was a slight flirtation in the first chapter between the two leading characters, Nina and Ben. After reading the first chapter, Tony sent it back to me under the title "Nina the Slut". Suffice it to say that I decided to take the novel in a different direction.
Last year, I published an article in the local newspaper about my son's All-star baseball team. It was a sentimental and slightly humorous take on the season. I was very excited to have him read it, but again, a bit disappointed when his only comment was "Why did you mention my dirty clothes?" Once again thrust into confusion, I read the article to my 9 year old daughter Gabrielle, thinking she would come to my rescue, but her only comment was "It's pretty good, but what's up with the picture of you?"
In conclusion, I wonder if Shakespeare had to deal with this kind of criticism? Ok, maybe not Shakespeare, but what about, say, John Grisham? Do you think his kids ask why he doesn't mention them? Do you suppose his wife complains if the leading lady is not based on her?
I'm thinking of only sending the next one to friends.