A special place in Hell

I was considering doing a ‘Proud Momma’ kind of post with my daughter, @honeydue, publishing her first book, an accomplishment of which I am extremely proud, obviously. On the other hand, I realized it is somehow wrong - the idea of heaping praise on our children when they do something like winning a competition or passing a test with flying colors. It is exactly the sort of thing I decry, as it puts pressure on the children - my parents are proud of me because I did this and if I don’t do that they’ll be disappointed in me. I don’t know how to explain this - praising your children for what they DO, instead of what they ARE! I am proud of my daughter every single day and I find it hard to be more proud on this particular day!

Another reason I’m not in a mood for a ‘Proud Momma’ thing is that I’m a very ‘Pissed Momma’ today. Like, totally, absolutely, incredibly pissed! As you can imagine, writing a book is the easy part, the real test is making yourself known, reaching out, building a following and all that. So we did reach out, only to discover that people you’ve been close to for many many years don’t really give a fuck! My daughter is dealing with this sad reality herself, with friends that cannot be bothered to like her page, let alone offer a kind word, be a little excited for her, stuff like that.
I’m older, I have friends I’ve known for decades, people who’ve watched this kid grow and they just don’t care!

For instance, I texted a friend yesterday to say my girl has published a book and the answer I got was something like ‘Oh, did she? However, let me tell you how my diet’s going…’ Literally. Not one ounce on interest...
Another friend saw my message and couldn’t be bothered to send back a bloody smiley face!
As for buying the book and actually reading it, forget about it… And I’m talking people who can easily afford it, people with a $1000 iPhones to read the bloody book on… And, no, it’s not about money, my girl knows it’s not about family friends buying her book, but the millions out there she needs to reach and she’s working on it. It’s about a show of support for a girl they pretend to like… taking the time to read and say something about the book!
The treatment we received from ‘close friends’ is in stark contrast with the support my daughter has received from the wonderful people of Steemit, who actually took the time to help spread the word about this book on their own social media. She’s been on this platform for only one year and more people here offered congratulations, advice or words of encouragement than people we’ve known in real life for many many years. I’m very grateful to all the amazing encouragement she’s received from other Steemians, but this only makes me more disappointed about my friends…
It’s not only Steemians that voluntereed a little support, even total strangers on social media got the idea this is a young author fighting to make herself known and helped out with likes and tweets. It doesn’t take long, doesn’t cost anything, just a click, really - yet, so many friends and even family members could not be bothered to do that for my girl.
I’ve written many times on this blog that I’ve never cared what others think of me, but I do care what others think of my children and this total lack of interest is not something I’ll ever forget. This song seems particularly appropriate in my current mood: 'Welcome to Hell' by the one and only Trace Adkins!

Thanks for reading my rant