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Jan 18, 2023Liked by Nancy Reddy

I'm always struck by how writers will write about their children as though their children will never learn to read and Google.

It can be a tough balance to navigate how to write about your kids and your relationship to them. On the one hand, writers have a right to tell their story and goodness knows that motherhood is a fertile place for content. On the other... don't be a dick.

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Jan 18, 2023Liked by Nancy Reddy

I'll also note that I just wrote about my own kids for my Substack, so pot/kettle and all that... but I don't write about my kids or share images of them without their consent, so I think I'm staying on the right side of the dick line? I hope so.

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It really is such a tough balance! And I would never say that someone shouldn't write about any aspect of their lives--but I would also never want what I've written to hurt my kids. I just kept thinking, in the essay I was responding to here, about the difference between "my kids drive me crazy at piano lessons" and "my kids drive me crazy . . . and that makes me question if I really love them unconditionally." I mean, yikes.

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Exactly!

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