Kyle sleeping at my cousin Chad’s wedding reception. I invaded his privacy to snap the most precious picture 2002

Some have asked me, “You don’t mind everyone in the world reading your life?”  Or something along those lines.  Here’s the deal, I don’t because I choose what I want people to hear and know.  Yes, I do give quite a few stories about me and my family, and I do back them up usually with details, but the truth is, those aren’t always the entire stories.  My blog is not a minute by minute account of my life or my family’s.  We are not the Kardashian’s being followed around with the camera, recording every waking moment.  Believe it or not, I don’t have the paparazzi following me around, snapping pictures and reporting on my whereabouts.

My stories are simple, what I would think many experience.  Also my narratives are a way for me to record Kyle’s life and our interaction with him.  I mean that’s why I started the blog in the first place.  I wanted to keep records of learning lessons, Kyle’s and mine, and I wanted to keep the family in the loop with respect to our little package.  It’s true, I could have made my blog private and only allow certain individuals to be included, but I always felt, if there was a learning lesson for another aunt, uncle, cousin, friend or parent that I could share in a story, then it was worth it.  Or perhaps someone has good advice for me, helping me with raising Kyle.  I’ll take it!

Over the few short years I’ve been blogging (which is also very therapeutic to me), many have reached out to me with words of encouragement, advice and interest.  Mostly privately, but that’s fine.  It’s about helping families, not my Facebook popularity.

On a side note, I bet there are many out there, who divulge more information about their life through simple Facebook posts, compared to my blog entries.  That’s just speculation of course.

My dad hates my blog.  Granted the man has never been on a computer, never even touched one and never plans on it, yet my mom keeps him abreast of my verbiage.  However, unless someone was right beside me living in the moment that I later report on, no one would ever know what information I chose to disclose, and what I chose to omit.  Yes it’s true, I don’t add every little detail, kind of funny since I do add a lot of trivia and finer points when outlining specific stories.  Believe it or not, some people I choose to omit for one reason or another.  Some I chose not to name directly, for their privacy.  And sometimes, some details are not that important.

Truly, I am a pretty private person.  So, do I mind telling the world my life story?  Nope, because it’s not my life’s complete story.  There is so much more to me and my family than I tell.  Makes me sound kind of mysterious!  Only those small handful of individuals who really truly know me, will know everything, sometimes.

On another side note, I’ve always said it and I do believe it, my family is a reality show.  Seriously, if they were ever followed around for the world to see, no one would believe how simple and rugged the Piper’s can be, mostly simple.  My family is a really rare breed!

Besides, I would rather be in control of telling the tales that I want told, rather than the government spying on my emails, phone conversations and text messages.  Not that I believe I was ever the topic of conversation within homeland security, but since recent events of privacy have surfaced, one can never tell.  Do I have anything to hide?  Nope, not that I’m aware of, but it still boils down to respect.  I do believe privacy is a right of mine, unless of course I would ruin that trust and take away the rights of others.  Then, I believe I should have no rights a.k.a. criminals and those suspected of terrorism.  Sorry but if it acts like a duck, quakes like a duck and looks like a duck, then chances are…

I know that seems pretty straightforward, and the government is trying to protect us from terrorists, but I also believe they have proven to not be trustworthy in their actions and decisions.  Look at the IRS and how they conducted business, targeting conservative groups and then abusing their power and the tax payers money.  When it comes down to it, we are all humans and humans have free will, to choose to do good or bad.  There needs to be some sort of checks and balances to keep everyone on the straight and narrow.  Again, easier said than done.  Or is it?

I will continue to blog and tell the stories that I feel are fun and necessary for another child’s growth, yet I will protect my privacy and the true privacy of Kyle.  I believe they can be done simultaneously, just use common sense.