In the Public Eye

Here's the thing about having a blog with over 25K readers and a rapidly growing Facebook page- you are officially "in the spotlight".

This is a decision that I wrestle with almost daily.  Am I doing the right thing?  Should I even post photo's of my child?  Should I tell people the general area we live?  Will I have regrets?  What does my husband have to say about all this?  Should I share less?  More?

It's hard you guys.  Much more difficult then I ever thought possible.  I want to share our journey with you all, I want to put a realness to this path of homeschooling.  I want you all to know that parenthood is hard, that it's not all sunshine and roses, that marriage takes work, that homeschooling is worth it- but at what cost?

Recently, I have had some of my fans reach out to me via my personal Facebook page- not my Homeschooled Housewife fan page.  While I love that you are interested in knowing more about me and while for most of you- I do already consider you friends, I have to decide where to draw that line.  In addition, some folks that my husband and I have banned from our personal pages are using my fan page to keep tabs on our family.  That scares me and makes my husband extremely upset that they would go to such lengths.  So I've had to do some re-evaluating for both my personal and fan pages.

Lines are being drawn

The reality is this- I'm much more active over on the fan page.  If you want to get to know the real me, this is the place to do it.  Well- that and my Pinterest page!  I reserve my personal page for mainly family and close friends and I post mostly funny memes and Disney stuff there.  Truly, it's very boring so fear not- you aren't missing anything!

Topics that relate to marriage, motherhood, homeschooling and in general- just real life, it's all over on the fan page.  In talking with my husband, he cautioned me to keep these as separate as possible.  The truth of the matter is that I already invite everyone into our lives via the fan page and that some things, like convo's between my Mom or the neighbor, should stay private.  So for now- I won't be accepting friend requests from fans on my personal Facebook page.  I hope that you all can understand.

I consider you my friends already.  I am so thankful to have this great community of supportive wives, mothers and homeschoolers.  But as my husband pointed out- there has to be a line somewhere.  So thank you- really, THANK YOU, for your desire to know more about me and my family and thank you for your understanding.

I'm still learning how to navigate being "in the public" and trying to figure out a balance that my boys can appreciate.  And while I'm no Diary of a Mom, I'm doing the best I can to find a solution that works for everyone.

You Should Also Know-

• I don't post photos of myself on the fan page
• I very rarely post photos of the husband
• There's a few topics that are off limits
• I do my best to answer any & all questions with 100% honesty
• If I think the subject matter would embarrass the kiddo, I do not post it
• I do my best not to offend or post topics that others might find offensive
• I do not post photo's of others without asking permission
• I am not perfect, this is the real me

I am very aware that every single thing I put out there is now public.  My husband is very aware that there are people viewing our family's page (because it really is a family page) and my blog, that we would rather not be viewing.  And if we ever feel that our safety is compromised, I will pull the plug immediately.

But friends- I sincerely hope it doesn't ever come to that.  I enjoy sharing with you all far too much and I hope I will be able to do so for many years to come.

As always, thank you for reading and for following along on our journey.

The Homeschooled Housewife