Funny How These Things Change

Well, one of the kids asked me why I don't write to them and say you when I talk about them instead of "the kids" so I figured, this is for them, basically, why not change (we should try and be flexible when we can, right, especially those of us who are very rigid about a lot of things). So here goes...
Dear Kids,
Since this is my sort-of online diary for you guys - I'm going to try to write to you and see how that goes. When we write directly to someone and address them it is called first person. I guess it is good if you guys can learn a little from this in addition to hearing me "speak" my thoughts. What started as a funny little experiment is growing into a sort of memoir of me for you guys - that is probably way too out of your reach at this point.
I can't remember if I have told you this on this blog so I'm going to explain my diary idea. When my father died suddenly, almost 8 years ago now, we were all trying to find a way to deal with what had happened. We missed my Dad terribly, we had all had a very special relationship and connection with our father which is an amazing thing to cherish. Each child in the family had their own way of dealing with our loss. I put together a book for my family of different things from my father's life and his writings and memoir items that was a way to sit and think about and appreciate and remember him. My sister gave us all a copy of a diary my father had written for her. She had given my Dad a present of a journal once and since she was a writer and someone who appreciated writing, my father decided to write the journal for her. Little did he know that years later his writings and thoughts would be a great source of comfort for his children who missed him terribly. It would be a way to stop, sit down, and think about their father and remember him. It is a different type of remembering him - not thinking about his accomplishments or of what people said about him - but actually remembering how he sounded, his voice, his expressions - while reading what he wrote, it was a way to remember the person you loved so dearly in an entirely different way. I appreciated that journal more than you can imagine. Then and there I decided I was going to do the same thing for you guys. You would have my words, my "voice," captured in a way that you could remember me forever. I started with great aspirations (high hopes) and thought I'd write daily. Well, with a family and a job, daily turned to weekly turned to monthly - you get the point. Life gets so busy and funny enough, just as my Dad had written in his journal, I found myself writing "it's been a long time since I picked this up." I still write in that journal periodically, they are big updates, thoughts and I love it. Still, in practical life, there isn't a way to keep it up on a regular basis. Then I realized that I had a different way to start the same idea. We are all on the computer all the time these days - we email, do work, check out the bank accounts, and every other thing under the sun - why not start an online journal or diary - write whatever I feel like for whoever wants to read it - and then later on, when you guys are older and maybe can enjoy it more - you'll go back to it. I can print it all out and save it for you periodically. I figured it would be neat for me and maybe fun for you. That's where this started. I like to see it taking off - hearing on or another of you saying "I have to check my posts" - makes me happy. Have to go to sleep but love talking to you all.
Love,
Mommy