Pic courtesy: Freedigitalphotos.net
To people like me blogging is a passion, a hobby, love of sharing and interacting and sharpening both my creative and writing skills. To an outsider, it seems like fun, silly, even glamorous with bloggers getting goodies and winning prizes. Very often the hard work behind the blog is not visible and recognized. The other day, a lady (not a blogger) when congratulating me for winning a prize said that she was thinking of becoming a blogger too, but she wasn’t as greedy. Wow, that was something really kind to say. And we think that it is only people on social media who have thrown their basic courtesies to the dogs!
Yes, of course, blogging is child’s play, and anyone can write well. It’s a given; I assure you!
Now that we have established the basic grounds for a trivial and silly activity like blogging, let us talk about the plight of the poor family that puts up with the blogger. You must know that behind every successful blogger is a suffering family, as the points below amply demonstrate:
- A blogger’s partner is always at the risk of having their opinions, memories and moments laid threadbare for the public to see. You irk your blogger partner and who knows how you may figure in their next post or in the topic of discussion on their blogging forums. Nothing you say, do or experience is ever safe again. The same applies to all those who cross ways with the blogger. Since all bloggers are writing books, you can be pretty clear where the inspiration for storyline and characters are coming from. Do you really want to be that horribly evil person in their next novel? The choice is yours. Remember to be at your best behavior with a blogger.
- A blogger’s children are sometimes not even party to the fact that their childhood shenanigans, mischief and embarrassing tales are out there for all to read, chuckle and comment about. Poor kids, they are unaware that they strike the fancies of their blogging mommies and daddies very regularly. By the time they are old enough to protest, the damage has been pretty much done.
- Don’t forget the blogger’s pet! They have to chip in too with pictures, videos and their tales. With a blogger, every person and event can and will be turned into a blog post.
- A blogger’s family has to be a willing displayer of their chhaddhi baniyan (dirty linen) for the next hot blogging tag or contest. Yeh prize ka maamla hai!
- A blogger’s family finds that all vacations have one most important agenda – photographs! Hence, the poor guys pose or not pose patiently while the blogger goes click, click, click in preparation of some future post the idea of which hasn’t even been conceived this far. But why miss an opportunity, I ask? After all, what are vacations for?
- A blogger’s family must be willing to meet with other blogger friends. Don’t forget the ubiquitous pictures again! Duh, what is a meet without pictures? What the hell will we put up on FB? Remember it is important to be hot and happening on social media to be a ‘popular’ blogger.
- A blogger’s partner must brush up their photography skills for all those occasions when they need to capture their blogger muse in the best of poses. Refer to the point above about being ‘hot and happening on social media.’ DPs have to be regularly updated, you see!
- A blogger’s family has to diligently read through everything a blogger writes. They may not like or appreciate the genre but who cares! A good family stands behind each other, right? Yes, they must also be mindful of the way they express feedback unless it is positive, of course. Language and tone is very important to a blogger!
- A blogger’s family has to get used to the blogger’s excessive use of words like Awesome, Fabulous, Nice one and so on since that is the language they converse in on blogs. Not to forget the absolutely baffling overdose of Muahs, Love and likes that the blogger starts using in their conversation and in their written word as well. Emoticons become oxygen!
When you have paparazzi at home, why look outside? So you see, it is such a struggle living with a blogger. And, people you need to recognize the long-suffering family and their sacrifices that goes a long way towards making a successful blogger.
Finally, remember what happens to those who don’t suck up to the moody blogger in the comments :-)!
For non-bloggers, writing is like a waste of time…It used to affect me earlier but now I just don’t care… In fact I find it more easy to gel with bloggers instead of others when it comes to meeting someone apart from my family…. By the way I force my family to read my posts , initially they did as I told them to but now they don’t care 😉 … I have asked S to send pictures of Dusseldorf so that I can use them in my posts without worrying about using some one else’s pics !! Blogging ain’t easy, someone needs to tell the world!
I don’t care at all, Naba :). For me blogging is fun. It has given a lot more than I had expected. And see it got me wonderful friends like you :). Glad you enjoyed the post.
Satyavachan, Rachna! Even extended family and friends cannot escape the clutches of a blogger……HA HA HA HA HA *Evil laugh*
But honestly, to every one who thinks they can be a blogger, this must the Terms and Conditions they are willing to sign.
Congrats on your double whammy, BTW 🙂
Hahahaha Hi five to the evil laugh! Yes, indeed! Their families must be made to read this for sure :-). Thanks for the wishes, Vini!
I was nodding my head through out. Now, will make my other half read this. 🙂
hehe I hope your other half enjoys it. Thanks for reading, Pooja!
Heelarius post indeed. 🙂 Every blogger should have a copy of this as terms and conditions in a special page 😉 Well done Rachna
Thanks, Bhagya :). Glad you enjoyed the post!
So true. Most bloggers will identify with this post. 🙂
Thanks, Alka!
And that is why blogging use to be under a pen name in olden times! I had to push back so many posts in the drafts folder so that, just in case, someone from the extended family comes hopping by through social media, doesn’t know every detail about me (and my opinion on them :p)
hahaha I can completely understand, Nisha! I have done the same :-P!
This is an awesome post Rachna! 🙂 had me chuckling all through out. Btw I recently heard someone say something like “oh they do some random stuff like blogging..” 😛
Thank you, Seeta! Yes, that is exactly what we do — random stuff :-)!
Well said Rachna. I am sure every blogger can relate to this post very well.
Thank you, Disha! Glad you related to the post.
So funny! Another thing – a blogger’s family has to wait, keeping their growling tummies in check, till the blogger has taken her fill of photographs of the yummy dinner spread!!! I think this is what annoys my family the most, especially when it comes to desserts :). I’ll slice it, and they’ll jump with anticipation; but wait, even the slice has to be photographed!!!
hahaha Fab! I haven’t written anything about the food bloggers. Gosh, imagine seeing the blogger cook fantastic stuff and watch it all go cold, while they arrange it properly :).
*fearfully toeing the line so that ‘moody blogger’ doesn’t go off the deep end*
This was such a nice post Rachna. You balanced it so nicely.
*Already bored. Throws caution to the air and says what she wants*
As Vini said, loved the double whammy. In fact, the whammy can go many ways, not only just two. Honestly, I don’t know what we’d have done without pictures. As for the characters in WIP novels, ha! Baby, you’ve NO idea the people I’ll be putting into mine. Many pink toes are likely to get singed! 😀 😀
Just LOVED the tongue in cheek of this one.
hahaha Dagny! I loved how you changed colors so quickly :). You clearly know the ‘moody’ blogger well enough to take your chances :). Thanks for reading! Always love to read your comments especially when you say that you LOVED the post ;)!
This is just spot-on Rachna 😀 Absolutely true!!
Thanks, Muses of the Heart! Glad you enjoyed it :).
guilty as a blogger for all the above points!!!.. 😀
hahaha Indeed, aren’t all of us too! Thanks for reading, Archana.
Bingo!
A very honest post. Just like it is. 🙂
Thanks so much, Aabha, for reading! I am glad you enjoyed it.
Hahaha… Bang on! Aur sahi kaha, anyone can write. It is so damn easy. Now, I know where I lack, have to reduce many kilos, buy gorgeous outfits, DSLR and tell Alok to learn photography. Hot and happening pictures hi mujhe popular bana sakte hai.
Loved loved loved reading it. 🙂
See we think so alike, Saru ;-)! Main bol rahi hoon, train your husband to take good pictures. Waise toh you are already so popular. This way you will reach out to the Universe ;-). Elated to hear that you enjoyed the post! Thanks so much for reading!
Just when I thought I was blogging to rise above the suffering that is my family!! Brilliant piece, had this family reading out parts to each other and laughing all through.
Your comment thrilled me, Subho! As soon as I published the post, I shared it with G so that he would know how much I understand his misery ;-). Makes me feel immensely happy that M and you enjoyed it. Thanks as always, for reading!
Rachana, just one word – Superb. I loved the humor & felt one with so many of your points. I could picturize my spouse reading this post and umm, not finding it funny! 🙂 and yet I chuckle.. Gosh, I just realized I have a powerful weapon against the way he treats me!! My posts 🙂 and I cannot wait to get the firing ..nah, I meant feedback..from my little angel for featuring her, when she begins to know how to read my posts!! . Loved it and smiling all the way through this.
Thank you so much, Poornima! I actually made my spouse read it and watched his expression. He chuckled as well ;-).
tsk tsk, Rachna!! How your family suffer…and for what?! For being a ‘greedy’ blogger?!! LOL!! Certainly how nice and polite some people are!!
Many congratulations for two very well deserved awards! <3
I tell you, Rosh, poor family of mine! They put up with a moody person who is greedy ;-). Some people are just a piece of work!Thanks dear for the lovely wishes.
Is this going in the terms and conditions for the bloggers 😀 Good one again Rachna 🙂
I don’t know; you tell me :D. Thanks for liking it, Jas!
100% Satyavachan! But how did you miss the part about how quickly the blogger’s use of adjectives in the home and outside is gets restricted to words like – Awesome, Beautiful, Lovely and Outstanding?
😛
Of course, very valid suggestion. I immediately added it above :).
LOL Rachna! You said it!
And hearty congratulations on the well deserved awards 🙂
Thanks Deeps! Glad you enjoyed ;). Thanks for the kind wishes too.
😀 That was indeed brilliant!!
Thanks, Deepak :).
Spot on, Rachna!! I was laughing and nodding in agreement on ALL the points!! Non-bloggers really dont understand bloggers and their world. And the best is that everyone thinks that blogging is easy and anybody can do it!!
So true, Shilpa! I guess non bloggers have no clue, and some of them make fools of themselves.
Wow, never thought about all of that….so true though!
Glad you connected with the post, TTS!
LOL…while I totally totally agree with you, I have a partner who doesn’t read my blog. But I have a son who knows I have a blog and says, I don’t let him read it. So innocent or pure he is that he doesn’t open it without letting me know 🙂 I have one posting pending on him and I was taking a pic and off he goes, nooo you can’t do that….hehehe..it will be there one day.
yes, many parts of our lives are open there…how many non-bloggers would be ready to do that?
So true, Latha! Poor Sid, he does not know what hits him before it is already on the blog :).
Haha. Loved reading this post. I try and keep the theme of my posts far away from my real life, but sometimes we inadvertently write about them, though not directly and realize it only after it’s way too late. Once my friends got to know that I was blogging, we would talk about something or gossip and then they would say, Ash please dont blog about this. 🙂
Very true, Ashwini! Seem with me and yet the personal details creep in. hehehe I know friends always assume that we are going to write about every incident that happens. How lame! Thanks for reading!
Hehehehe, Rachna. I love it when you’re funny.
I have to put with “don’t you share this on your blog” from friends, family and foes. Many have unfriended me because they assumed it was them I was making fun of in my blogost :p
And when someone asks me. so. how do you pass your time? – I feel like slitting their throat.
That coming from the Queen of Humor is only going to be taken as a compliment by me :). Thanks Purba! Oh yes, it seems like all we do is document every incident in depth. I have faced that too from friends and relatives. Sometimes, I am tempted to share some incidents but hold back knowing how many feathers that will ruffle. I am counting on you making caricatures of all such folk in the novel you write :). Thanks for reading!
Is it a wonder then that I have to scrounge around for topics to write on and, sans the social media presence in pics, am not too popular either? 🙂 All so there is one woman in the world who is happier than she could have been married to me 🙂
hehe Suresh! I am sure your friends, acquaintances and relatives find their way into your humor or stories. Sachchi bolna :). Who knows about that woman? Maybe she would have offered you many humorous situations to blog about :). Thanks for reading!
Lol! superliked the post! Kudos to your family for their support and to you for such a successful blog, am sure they go along with it happily! Maybe even put on their best behaviour for you, in fear of the imminent blog post.
hehe Poor people; they hardly have a choice :).
Emoticons turn oxygen…that was quite creative of you there…Oh btw, you should add that a blogger/writer is always on the brink of getting disowned by his/her own family….so there you go…the anti-perks of being a blogger
Thanks, Ritesh :). Haha you think so. Luckily, my family seems to put up with all my blogging rubbish without still tipping over the edge. Thanks for reading!
Hhahahah..well you said it!! Minus the meeting bloggers part (because I am anonymous) and minus the photography part and minus the winning prizes part (I am too bad at contests) it all applies squarely to me!!
Wonderful..
and because emoticons are oxygen Mwaaah :* 😀 😛
hehe RedHanded Sometimes I feel, it would have been better to have stayed anonymous, I could have bitched much more on the blog ;-). Thanks for reading and liking!
Great post Rachna. And I agree with Fab that what our families have to tolerate most is they have to wait for food. I am sure my hubby would enjoy reading this post as much as I did 🙂
I hope your family knows that we are all sympathizing with them :). Thanks for reading.
I miss being the blogger I was! I should really get back. I could nod away at all you have written a year ago. 🙁
Yes, do come back please!
Interesting. My wife does not read my blog – she does not have to as she has to copy edit most of my posts before I post. So she most likely knows most of the stuff that is going to come there. The surprise was my father. he somehow found out my blog and started reading and then began to tell all relatives to read. They were of course not at all interested.
Oh she does that, nice! My husband does not read all my posts. My son reads them all and complains when he does not follow some (the philosophical ones). My sis reads a few off and on.
Hi Rachna,
I am guilty of almost everything written here.
I don’t know whether I take pictures because I like what I see or I foresee some opportunity to use them at some point. I somehow don’t like writing a blog in which there is no opportunity for me to put up any pictures, but I have written blogs without pictures too.
And as far as FB is concerned, I come up with some pictures of my cooking pretty often, leading my husband to comment, that I cook only to post pictures of my very ordinary cooking.
Well so be it, I enjoy the things I do, and I also enjoy all the ‘likes’ and comments too.
My dogs too enjoy their pictures being taken for they sometimes pose so beautifully.
What is life without these little indulgence, so I say enjoy it !
Rama, I do them all, almost all. Just poking a little fun at ourselves :). Nothing to be taken seriously.
Now that’s what I call a power-packed punch (post)! Thoroughly enjoyable and so full of little and big truths about the world of blogging 🙂 You prove it without any doubt that blogging is not everyone’s cup of tea, for sure.
“Remember to be at your best behavior with a blogger.” — I loved, absolutely loved this line. Profoundly true in its simplicity 🙂 Great post!!
Thanks so much, Beloo. I truly love these posts that I have done poking fun at blogging. After all, if we don’t laugh at ourselves, who will? 😀 I am glad that others took it in the same spirit. The humor falls flat when some people fall in the defensive mode. So glad that you enjoyed the post. Thanks for reading.
Reminded of what my daughter said when I told her I will teach her to be a blogger 😉
Really fun post, Rachna. Now, the question is, do we take photos or not at the next Blogger meet? 😀
hahaha That is a question to ponder. 🙂 My younger son says something similar about blogging. 😉
This is hilarious and so apt. True we bloggers see a post in every conversation.
Pictures and posts are hard work.
Thanks, Inderpreet. Glad you liked it. 🙂