It happened again

I was out with the kids… and I saw someone smile at me from across the way. I smiled back because I didn’t want to be rude. A few minutes later, he comes walking over to me, says my name and how happy he is to see Jordan.

I feel so bad. I couldn’t remember his name. Terrible.

That’s the challenge of being a mom of a child who is physically different. People remember you. You may have met once, but they remember you. Being the parent of a limb different child means you’re in the public eye. I work in a television newsroom where my anchors (who are my friends) are even more a part of the public eye… But I’m in the public eye as a mom. So that means I can’t mess up. Inappropriate parenting in public with be remembered. Anonymous life does not exist if I’m hanging out with my kids. That’s just the way of life… And it makes me feel SO bad when my memory fails me and I can’t connect a name to a face. I feel doubly bad when I can’t connect the name to the face AND they remember everything about me and my kids.

Every interaction is a potential long-term relationship because I’m in the public eye.

That’s an exhausting thought… But as I’ve said to Cameron before. He and I are fortunate to be in the public eye thanks to Jordan. But when she grows up and isn’t with us all the time, we fall out of the public eye. Jordan will never avoid it. There are pros and cons to this… and I hope she’s able to remain positive as often as possible.