I never mean to offend

You know how when you leave your parent's daily guidance that they are always in your head reminding you of the right thing to do? This happens to me still today at age 33. When I got married I inherited another voice in my head to guide me daily. My husband's.

He reminds me how to use correct grammar (which if you can't tell by my writing I still need to work on it) and he often tells me I am being offensive to people. (Oh. If you knew him you would think that last one pretty hilarious!)

For instance, he always tells me that when I ask people the ethnicity of their last name I could be offending them. That is not my intention at all. I am just curious. If I have never heard of a name such as theirs I want to know where it originated. I don't care one way or the other what their family heritage is I just want to be more knowledgeable about names and it sometimes leads to great conversations about that person. Living down here I tend to run into so many different last names than those that are more common up north. So the other day I was out with some gals for coffee and one of the ladies's last name was Ybarzabal. With my husband's warnings ringing in my head I went forward and asked her how to pronounce it and what ethnicity it was. Turns out it was from Spain. She didnt' seem to mind answering my questions but I immediately felt uneasy because I was thinking of my husband always telling me that it is rude to ask. But I am just curious. I am not trying to offend or be rude. I genuinely want to know about people.

Today it happened again. At my daughter's preschool they have a letter of the week and need to bring in a pic of something that starts with that letter. This week it was X. Seriously, there are 14 kids in the class. How many things can you bring a picture of that starts with an X without there being 7 x-rays and 7 xylophones? (I did a little research online and my daughter and I picked out Xebec) So later that day while reading a blog I saw the word Xanax and laughed out loud. I thought wouldn't that have been a funny one to send in. The kids wouldn't get it, but the teachers would have a good laugh. So I sent an email to all the class moms and asked if anyone thought to send that one in with a pic? If not, send it tomorrow! Then, I woke up this morning with so many feelings of guilt and regret. My husband's voice ringing in my head saying, "What if someone really takes Xanax and gets offended. What if they don't think that is so funny?" Again, it is never my intention to poke fun at someone or offend them. If anything I was making fun of myself (At least once daily I think I could use a Xanax!) and I was thinking I bet every mom feels that way and we are all moms!

So if I ever offend you or have in the past. It is NEVER my intention. I like to laugh at life and myself before I would ever laugh at you. Trust me. I am more curious about you than I am judgemental. I like to talk and genuinely want to get to know you. So please don't take offense.