One of my nieces read my blog for the first time today. It feels momentous to me so I have to make a record of it here. To protect her privacy, I’m not mentioning her name. (Although they both have the most divine names – yes I know, gushing aunt)
A few times before, her dad said I should let them read it. He was encouraging about it, and said it was okay. My little niece piped in that she could handle it.
I was worried initially, because I have written since 2011 about pretty heavy topics that touch on mental health conditions like anxiety and also grief. From 2016 I started talking about my cancer journey. It’s geared towards older people who have gone through life’s tribulations. And I wear my heart on my sleeve as I reveal my truth.
My nieces know that I can be quite overprotective. So they find it natural, my hesitation about them reading basically what is my online journal.
My cousin’s very open as a father and shares a lot with his children which I think is great for their development. He’s always truthful with them and wants them to be resilient. To him it was no issue.
Also the niece who wanted to read my blog is such a mature girl and handles everything like a pro. Her bravery is unmatched and often I feel quite ashamed at what a coward I am in comparison. She’s barely 11.
She came to me today and sweetly said she wanted to read my blog so I showed her the latest post, on my phone. She was reading intently and I have to admit I was very nervous. It felt like when you’re submitting your essay to your University professor.
I don’t edit my posts much so there may be grammatical errors. “On no, I thought. I should have put a lot more effort into editing”. I badly want to make my nieces proud and I value their opinion so much.
Children can often be wiser than adults, being unfettered by the constraints society puts on you.
Then my sweetie pie said “I like reading your blog”, before running off for her math lessons.
I was on cloud nine after.
No opinion matters more to me than from the ones I hold so dear.
I hope my other niece (my cutie pie) approves too. Crossing my fingers and waiting with bated breath.
