Jamie had never censored herself online before, and she wasn’t about to start now. She did, however, feel too raw after her fight with Tom to blog about it straight away.

When she got back to her own house, all she wanted was coffee and paracetamol to chase away the headache pressing against her temples.

She knew a morning run would work better than painkillers, but she couldn’t face it. Instead she changed into comfortable clothes and switched on the coffee machine. While it bubbled and spat, she fed Holmes and Watson, taking comfort in their furry presence.

Then she settled herself in front of the computer and started scrolling through her Facebook and Twitter feeds, and the various blogs she followed. As the lines of text flicked by, she argued with herself about the ethics of blogging.

She should blog about the fight. Now. While it was fresh in her mind.

No, she shouldn’t. She was still too angry. She wouldn’t present it fairly. There were two sides to every story, and she would only be able to show one.

So what? It was her blog, wasn’t it? If Tom wanted to put his opinion out there, he could start his own blog.

But that was the whole point. Tom didn’t want to put his opinion out there. He liked his privacy. He hadn’t signed up for having his personal life blabbed all over the internet by his girlfriend.
Ex-girlfriend. After this morning, ex-girlfriend was almost certainly the correct description.

Whichever. He was entitled to his privacy.

Everyone was entitled to their privacy, but that didn’t mean she was only allowed to write about herself. No one wanted to read a blog about just one person. The friends and family of writers had to get used to being used for material. That’s how it was.

No. It was a passive-aggressive stunt to write an angry blog about the fight they’d just had. It would be more honest to say whatever she wanted to say to his face. She knew he read her blog occasionally. It wouldn’t be right to blindside him like that.

Jamie stopped scrolling and pressed her hands over her eyes. This wasn’t helping her headache at all.

She would compromise, she decided. She would wait a few days to let her passions cool, and then she would write a balanced blog about it. And she would try to be sensitive to Tom’s privacy.

There. Decided.

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From Jamie Burchell’s personal blog:
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… so I’ve been forced to ask myself if he was right. Did I “take the gap”, knowing he hadn’t really agreed? Was I so desperate to take care of the baby that I rushed in and ignored a little voice in my head warning me it wasn’t the right thing to do?

The truth is, I don’t know. I was very tired. I’d just woken up out of a deep sleep. There might have been a part of me that was eager to jump at the chance of caring for Ben.

What I should have done was wake Tom up properly and ask him if it really was okay for me to go to his child. I didn’t do that. Part of me probably knew he’d say no. So I take responsibility for that.

Comments:
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Posted by: Gugz

Biggest storm in a teacup ever. Where I come from, it takes a village to raise a child. Literally, because I come from a little village in KZN. If you see a child being naughty, you smack him. If you see a child fall down, you pick her up and put on a Band Aid. If you hear a child crying, you ask what’s wrong. You don’t first go and find the parents to ask permission. I swear to God, I have NEVER!

Posted by: Amanda Stan

Touchy situation. My feeling is that since he’d asked you to read the kid a bedtime story that same evening, and since you’ve babysat before, you were justified in thinking it was okay to go to him in the night. But you’ve obviously trampled all over a sore spot, so basically I just think you need to talk to him.

Posted by: Dineo

Srsly, like Gugz said, in owa culcha no parent wd eva fault u 4 wat u did. Totes justified IMO. Dis 1 tym when I wuz a kid I wuz cryin in da street nd no 1 came. My mom she went to all da neighbiz aftawards nd she wuz lyk WHY U IGNORE MY KID? Lol!

Posted by: Cyril Att

I don’t know why you put up with this guy and his stupid tantrums. He is totally unreasonable. He’s always finding fault with you. He should be grateful that you’re willing to help him at all. A single father, burdened with someone else’s child. He’s not in a position to pick and choose.

Posted by: Jamie Burchell

Dear Cyril. I know you mean well, but he is not “burdened with someone else’s child”. That’s his own son he’s raising. His own child – legally, morally, and on every level. He has the right to decide what kind of contact outsiders are allowed.

Posted by: Shoobeedoo

Judging by your earlier posts on this subject, I think you were subconsciously motivated by the desire to get closer to the kid. In which case, you owe his dad an apology.

Posted by: Foully Wooing Won

How can you bear to touch that half-breed infant? Doesn’t it make your skin crawl?

Jamie dropped her phone face-down on the counter.

He was back.

She wasn’t sure if the shudder that ran along her spine was caused by his name or by the repulsiveness of the comment he’d just posted. A half-breed? He was calling Ben a half-breed? What kind of disgusting, right-wing lunatic was he anyway?

In a sudden, violent segue from fear to anger, Jamie snatched up her phone. She wasn’t going to stand for this. Jabbing at the keyboard, she began to type a reply.

Posted by: Jamie Burchell

How can you say that about an innocent child? You’re the one who makes my skin crawl. Keep your disgusting observations to yourself.