Familiar Faces
“Do I know you?”
That question and other similar comments have been incredibly common this past year – at the park, the grocery, at the bank. Ever since our family was featured on ABC’s “Wife Swap,” everyone in town seems to recognize us, which can be very interesting. Most of the time, people are incredibly kind and curious. It’s nothing for us to spend an extra 45 minutes [or more!] in a store we just dropped into for an item or two, talking about the show to a friendly stranger.
One aspect that isn’t nearly as enjoyable is the idea of being KNOWN to strangers. Strangers who often refuse to consider the difference between fiction and reality where reality TV is concerned. “But I saw it on TV,” is a common response. It becomes tiring to explain how not everything was how it appeared. It becomes tiring to explain, “I did say that, but not in the conversation you think.” It’s tiring to explain our parenting choices.
Throughout the month, I’ll walk you through my side of the swap. I’ve asked Eric and the kids to offer up their narratives as well. Friends may guest post.
Post your questions and we’ll answer what we can.
~sheila
This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011 at 10:39 pm and is filed under Family, Media, Television. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
4:52 pm on December 14th, 2011
I love you guys! It makes me sad to hear people trash you all. On Wife Swap there have been other goth families that were unfortunately trashed by that horrible show (i.e the Zemankes and the Agguires come to mind). Each time the show tried to make it look like goth parents force their lifestyle on their children. Utter bullocks!
Anyways, keep your head up! Here’s one person that isn’t a slave to the media’s lies. 🙂
7:21 pm on January 18th, 2012
I appreciate that. I’m working on a more in-depth response to the show and the issues we ran into during and after filming/airing of the show. I hope you’ll come back and read it.