OK, I’m a hypocrite. Sue me.

I’ve been a member of online groups for a while, the longest being my association with the forums on Justmommies.com, where I’ve been a member since May 2007. I’m also a member of various digital scrapbooking sites as well. On these sites I’ve developed many friendships, some spanning the whole time I’ve been active on those sites.

As a stay-at-home mom, who lives in a very rural area, and is rather young (compared to the moms of the boys’ friends), I get pretty lonely. Most of my friends are either all working, have moved away, or are just starting out on the mommy-frontier. Having online friends has a been a blessing.

Now all these years John has always made fun of my “computer friends.” He doesn’t think I shouldn’t have them, and he’s not as patronizing as some husbands are about online friends. He understands that as the years since high school have passed that I lose more and more of my real life friends, and that this is a way to keep me from going bat-poop crazy. BUT this doesn’t stop him from making fun of me for getting so involved in the lives of people who I have never physically met. He really thought it was really funny as I texted one of my online friends with updates to share while I was in labor with Belly.

Since John got Black Ops for Christmas he has been enjoying the online playing of it most every week night. He used to play primarily just with my brothers, but has been slowly, but surely, expanding his friends on there. Recently he has taken to playing with the same two guys over and over, even talks to me about these two. Generally when he plays I listen to my IPod, but last night I had already turned it off and was getting ready for bed when I hear John talking to one of these guys… about me and the kids. I tapped him on the back over and over and whispered “John, John, John” until he turned his headset to mute and looked at me. I asked him if he was sure he should be telling some random-make-believe Black Ops dude about our life. This is when he gave me that annoying look “do you really want to go there?” look and then pointedly looked back and forth between me and my computer. I explain to him there’s a world of difference between my group of trustworthy online family and friends and his random make-believe Black Ops friends. At this point John said I should probably just go to bed before he decides to call and cancel our internet in the morning. I wisely shut up and went to bed.