A year or two ago, things in my life seemed much more Connor centered than Isla. He was the one always saying cute things before she could even talk. He would ham it up for the camera and was always doing something silly. He had all the adorable preschool art and parties while Isla was still at home hanging with her 'ole mom. Then something happened. Connor began to become more and more of his own person, more and more of a grown person. He doesn't love the camera like he used to. And often times I even find myself protecting his privacy. There are things he does or says that are hysterical, but aren't appropriate to share with the world...like super funny. The stuff that comes out of five year olds mouths is amazing. I know, you thought I shared everything, but I don't. You see, even if I stop blogging someday, this blog will live on in the internet. And high schoolers can be mean...heck, five year olds are mean! I would never ever want to post something that Connor's friends (or enemies) could find and use to make fun of him. So, more and more, the really crazy, absurd, hysterical things he says and does becomes things I share with people in person, not something I put out for the whole world to see.
So while I sit around and try to figure out how to make sure both my kids get enough love on social media (yep, I'm crazy), just know it's my love and respect for my growing children, Connor specifically right now, that keeps me from posting about him as much.
I'm curious, how do you handle posting (on facebook, instagram, blog, etc.) about your kids as they age? Have you waited until your kids asked you to stop? Or did you naturally find yourself stopping out of respect for your child?
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Such a good topic. And one that I think about often, but I don't have an answer to yet. I often consider going private, but b/c my blog is starting to get a hearing loss following, I don't want to do that either. It's tough. And I'm not sure what the right answer is...or if there is even one.
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Such and important topic yet, honestly, something I haven't thought too much about yet. You're weird experience this past year with the persons who stole your photos and created an cyber-ego of your kids definitely made me think more about which photos I post. Making sure to include no nudity anywhere and also make sure there are no photos that show exactly where we live. As for kids getting older I do think they naturally fall away from being the center of blog posts because (sadly) they aren't in front of the camera as much. They are too busy with their own little lives. Not to mention as my kids get older, and busier, I'm not grabbing my camera as much as I used to. I've also started censoring more of what I write about Landon to protect his privacy but I'm not sure how I'll really proceed in the future. I guess once he's old enough to understand I will bring him into the conversation and see what he thinks about his life being online. Oh, and you could also make your blog private in the future when you're done with it (or when the kids are teens) if you want. I probably eventually will -- years from now.
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