Okay, so I know it isn't Thursday, and I do know that it is Christmas, but this post is going to be about neither of those things (try back on Thursday for something feel-goody and Christmas-y; my husband just left me and my daughter at my parents to travel two hours to his parents and beat the snow storm so he can go to work tomorrow and I can enjoy my favorite day of the year which isn't such a favorite since I don't get to spend it with him, but probably I should stop whining and be grateful that we've had a wonderful day and that he has a good job and that it isn't snowing yet so I don't have to be overly worried about him driving down to SLC in the dark...but I digress).
Some acquaintance on facebook posted this article about children and online privacy today and I thought I would share it. Why? Because these are some of the things (among many) that Scott and I took into consideration when we discovered we were having a baby and had to make a choice about whether or not to "put her on facebook." We both felt very strongly about not putting pictures of her on facebook. We felt like once we did, we couldn't control her privacy--who knows who would see her and find pictures of her and decide to steal her? She is that cute, after all. At the same time, it kind of broke my heart to not be able to share her with friends and family that live far away. We reached a happy medium with our private family blog--our friends and family can still stay in touch and see pictures of her, but they have to have my permission to do so. I try to keep her name private on this blog and you won't ever see pictures of her here.
I'm not saying this is the best choice, nor is it right for everyone. I like how this article touches on that. I try not to judge anyone for posting pictures of their children on social media. I can fully understand why they do it. I just know that there are probably people out there who don't understand why I do not.
Sometimes (okay, almost daily), I get jealous of all the "she's so cute" and "you're such a good mom!" comments that I see on my friends' facebook pages when they post pictures of their children. I miss having people adore my daughter's cuteness and my mommy skills (which, let's face it, aren't all that awesome anyway). Sometimes I long for that validation, especially when I am at home all day with limited contact with the outside world. Sometimes, like after we got our family pictures taken, Scott and I revisit the issue--would it be okay for our photographer to post some of our family's cute pictures? Would it really hurt that much?
But then I think about what I want the world to know about my daughter. Personally, I hope she never becomes a "Sophia Grace and Rosie" YouTube?Ellen sensation (I have no doubt she is adorable enough and talented enough to do so someday). I do not want her childhood tainted by stardom, nor do I want her thinking that online validation is the only kind of validation there is. There are things about our family that I want to keep private. I don't want just anyone admiring (or abusing) her pictures. I want people that are strangers to me to be strangers to my daughter. I want to have some control over her while I still can.
And so, for us, and for now, Kevin remains known to us and anonymous to you.
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