Last night I wrote up a “Goodnight Post“ as I have been doing every night prior to going to bed. These posts to me are a way for me to have happy thoughts as the last or one of the last things that go on in my life in that day.
Now, I understand that not everyone has the same sense of humour but I believe that people can see the funny side, or what could be the funny side to these posts.
However last night in my “Goodnight Post” I gave a meme on Aussie kids using the clothes line as a makeshift merry go round, or depending on how fast we could spin it maybe even that “spaceship ride” at “Luna Park”.
"Childhood Memories.... Then We Grow Up! YEAH RIGHT! (Goodnight Post)"
https://steemit.com/funny/@jackmiller/childhood-memories-then-we-grow-up-yeah-right-goodnight-post
What I originally wrote was “...all Aussie kids have done this....” and I meant no harm in it, in fact I was cracking up laughing because I remembered the 101 times that my mum would chase me around the backyard with a broom or anything else she could find to be intimidating when she would catch me doing this.
However, this morning I woke up, saw my Mr’s post with a photo of our youngest son in his graduation gown and cap, as he had finished kindergarten (preschool).
It hit me there and then that I had done a very bad thing in my moment of going down memory lane. I just generalized a comment without ever imagining that I was maybe hurting some peoples feelings out there. Now I know that this was no where near any intent of mine, in fact I sort of hoped that no one would think that, but even though I knew that nobody would think that, it doesn’t change the fact that I may have not put a smile on some peoples faces.
Some of you are probably thinking “What the heck?” (or any other derivative)
I’m not one to share feelings, or emotions, rarely even feel the need to do so, especially like this, in the open for everyone to see and read. So my post here is going to be a little light on the wording as far as what I am actually feeling as I write this.
Back when our younger daughter was born, she was diagnosed as having cysts in her brain. That she would be disabled in some ways. Well then we found out that these cysts could pop on their own and go away as the human body especially at this young stage does that many a time, that many kids are born with cysts in their brain and that it all just cleans itself out without anyone knowing. Well, we didn’t know this for like a year or so and we took her to the physiotherapist for babies and so on and so on, until we got a connection to get her into one of the leading kids hospitals there where we lived and they had all high tech up to date equipment and so on. Basically after having her head scanned there it was found that these cysts were gone and that she shall be a healthy child without any handicap.
FANTASTIC.
We went through the exact same thing with our youngest son too. However this time because his head was a little bit oversized, or so it seemed, it was kind of disproportional to the rest of his body it seemed that we would have a child with special needs. Which in that year and half of going to the doctors and physiotherapist and so on every week just made him all the more special to us. I don’t know how to explain it, but it was almost as if we had a favourite among our kids even though in no way did we love any one of our four kids more or less we just kind of felt like this child deserved more love and attention because he was special and he needed it.
However, believe it or not, the little bugger got out of it same as his sister, the cysts disappeared and he is “A OK” in every respect.... just has a big head like his dad does!
Easy to joke about it today!
However, after seeing his photo in his graduation gown and cap, having finished kindie, I realized that this may not have been the case and that not all kids are lucky enough to enjoy the same things that totally healthy kids can enjoy. That is when it hit me that I made a mistake in the original wording of my “Goodnight Post”.
So from the bottom of my heart I am apologizing here with this post, because I actually do understand just how special every child is, especially those that need more time, attention and affection than others. It’s not that I don’t care, it’s just that the thought never crossed my mind as I was in fact going down memory lane through my childhood experiences and forgot about everything in between now and to when I was a kid.
So with all my heart I am SORRY if I in any way put a frown on anyones face with my “lets have a laugh before bedtime post” last night.
In future I shall try to think twice before I put anything funny up on my wall and triple think it over before writing anything to go with it.
No body said anything to me, no body suggested anything via the comments, no body gave me a hard time about it or anything. Maybe if I as a parent hadn’t gone through the emotions that go with having a child with special needs I would never have realized my mistake.
Enough now, I am beginning to get all mishy mashy and we don’t want that now do we!
So with all due respect to everyone who reads this post, please don’t hold anything against me. My intentions were only good, making people smile is a good thing and I will continue to do so not only because they help me go to sleep, but because I know that my goodnight posts put a smile on many faces out here among us Steemians.
As far as my mistake from last night, I sincerely hope that there are no hard feelings out there, I am only human, God am I only human! Bart Simpson eat your heart out, make way it’s Jack coming through!
I’ll end this here, I think that everyone can understand why I am having such a load of a guilt trip on this one.
Thanks for reading.
Jack.
A really nice post buddy however I can't see what you did wrong?
People are too bloody soft these days and it has become so hard not to offend someone, so hard it's hardly worth trying.
Give yourself a break Jack you're all good mate.
naaa mate, no body said anything anywhere. I just put myself in "MY OWN SHOES" to when my kids were among the many who can not enjoy what we did.
So I am actually being self critical.
I do appreciate the fact that no body said anything, even if someone did read my post from last night, and maybe thought to them self "well I couldn't do that" or "my kid can't do that".
But it does come down to the fact that I feel guilty because I should have known better, just got carried away with remembering my childhood, forgot the facts of life for so many kids who don't have the opportunity to enjoy it the way I did.... who just can't do the things I did.... and with everything that I went through, all the emotions that go with.... and so on.... I just go out and do somthing as thoughtless as this.... OK if I didn't know... but I do know and I still f#ckd up.... self critical is worse than if a 1000 people said anything, mea culpa dude.... I need to think before I act.
Yeah gotta agree with Percy here. I think you are being way too hard on yourself. I mean who wants to live in a world where you have to self-censor yourself so much that you actually stop posting things that make YOU happy and YOU smile. There was nothing wrong with your post and you meant no ill intentions by it and I am sure even someone who had a bad clothesline experience would see that lol.
Well said dude. If this self censorship PC crap is allowed to continue then what would be the point of posting anything? Some Bugger would be offended. That's the great thing about true freedom, you have the right to say what you like and others have the right to switch off and ignore you. Being deliberately offensive, outright racist or cruel won't get make you popular or earn you anything so that behaviour will die on the vine in the most part but the post was light hearted and if people can't take it that way.......Fuck em!
Jack, it sounds like the only person you offended....was yourself! :)
I didn't realise you had health history with your kids. Sometimes realisation and perspective can hit you like a brick wall and I get that. But don't double/triple check your humour. One thing I've always been proud of in Australian culture is we like to take the piss out of ourselves and we (in the past) have known that even if we're not being PC there is no offence intended (or taken!) and it's all in good fun. I know times are changing, but that's the Australia I grew up in and love.
True, a conscience can be a real bitch at times, the fact is it could have been me on the other end of this post and I should have known better.
I would gladly give my life for any persons child, PC can go to hell, this is just me being self critical with very good reason.
Even if it be just me who saw this, the thought that any parent out there felt what "went through my mind" just kills me.
Thanks for being a mate.
Thank you for sharing @jackmiller such a personal experience. I tend to be the same way trying to make people laugh and I have to hope they understand my intentions are always good, but sometimes that does bring moments of reflecting like this.
Good @jackmiller
One man's laughter is another man's tears. There's not a post in the world ever written that someone somewhere wouldn't feel/ see/ say the opposite. I've grown up with the hard knocks as a 60's baby, not the delicate life of the 1990's onwards. That said, it's good that you try to consider everyone. More people should be considering the two sides - the bigger picture. All I'm saying is don't beat yourself up as even if you said "I love red roses, they're the best" someone somewhere will have had an horrific experience and hate the comment. That said, your story hear is touching, heartfelt and real so thank you.
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