I'm pretty new to blogging. I started in May. So, I'm still kind of figuring the whole thing out. The other day I was going to post this hilarious picture of my daughter when my sister said no way! My kids have this obsession with running around naked and the other day Naia put an apron on (that's all she had on) and was sitting on a globe. My sister said you have no idea who is looking at that, etc., etc. Now I'm thinking oh crap, I need to go back and delete a bunch of stuff I put on here. My kids are going to kill me when they get older. I'm not going to quit blogging anytime soon. I love having all of these people, who I have so much in common with, to communicate with on a daily basis. I like to share our lives and I like peeking into the lives of others. There's nothing wrong with that, right? I just worry that I go too far sometimes when it comes to sharing my kids' lives. What are your thoughts? I'm still going to share pictures of my kids and what they're doing, just maybe not the naked and/or embarrassing ones. Darn! Those are the best.
I don't share nude pictures of my children, but only for the same reason that I try to avoid taking them in the first place - because they aren't really able to object yet they may some day. As an older child, I deeply resented my parents sharing naked pictures of my toddler self. So it's a personal hang-up for me, more than anything.
ReplyDeletePlenty of my friends do take and share pictures of their small children in a state of undress; some because they believe they want to record faithfully everything that their children experienced as children; or they believe they can thus avoid any shame about nakedness, or/and because they want to trust the inherent goodness of the world... I don't believe child protection is such a big reason myself either. A child can be objectified just the same with their clothes on, after all. (I let my children strip off and swim in the stream in a public park...)
yeah. I got pissed when my brothers would make fun of naked pics of me when i was little.
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about this issue a lot lately. How do we balance sharing our authentic selves and true moments in our families without crossing the boundary of sharing too much? I grew up with hippie parents and we ran around naked quite a bit as tots. I don't remember ever feeling ashamed or embarrassed of the naked pictures in our photo albums (but they were also never shared with anyone outside the family.) I've shared a few near-naked shots of my little guy on my blog and I feel ok about it--I guess I do trust the inherent goodness of the world and hope to impart that to my son (along with a good dose of common sense.)
ReplyDeleteI do wonder if sharing the special, intimate moments in our lives with the entire cyberworld makes them any less special or unique though. As a WAHM, I often feel pretty isolated and am so grateful when I can relate to another mama's blog post and feel some connection. I guess, to me, opening up our *real* life to others in order to create some sort of community (even if it's a virtual one) is worth the risk of over sharing.
Thanks for sharing your life and beautiful family with us!
I do take plenty of nekky pictures of my kiddos, but try not to post any "private" areas on my blog (although I do share with friends and family over email and more private internet spaces). You just never know what crazy people are out there....
ReplyDeleteBut thanks for sharing your life... your kids are so adorable!
I'm not a blogger...perhaps one day. I do enough sharing on Facebook. I do agree though that the nakey and embarrassing pics are the good ones :) BUT, I save the nakey ones for the personal photo album. And if I do take some that I'm hoping to share, I try to make it a pic where you can see the nudeyness without actually seeing the "private" parts. No penies and gineys in the pics. Butts are ok. ;) That's just where I'm coming from :)
ReplyDeleteIt's a sad thing that we have to be paranoid about perverts though, isn't it. I mean, isn't there enough blatantly sexual stuff for the pervs to look up on the computer? Do we really have to be so careful about what we post on a blog about our natural, everyday life? I'm not really sure about the answer but I understand the reserve...
Oh I love the "nudey tudey" pics too, but don't post them on my blog. I have a few times, like my last post, if its just a side bare booty pic of kian b/c if we are outside playing, he is ALWAYS diaperless. But I figure a little naked hip/thigh is fine. I just don't post any crack. :)
ReplyDeleteThe go to guide is anything that you put up on the internet is there forever.
ReplyDeleteI don't post any pictures of my son that I feel he would be embarrassed, or uncomfortable about when he is older - naked, food over his face, grimaces etc.He is older now, so doesn't run around with nothing on now - and it is cold here - lol. I am aware that there are many types of readers out there, so err on the fully clothed or covered up side. xx
ReplyDeleteI am very camera shy on my blog. I think everyone has their level of comfort of what to share. Nothing wrong with thinking twice :)
ReplyDeletemost of the time in the summer, pics of my boys are topless on my blog. this is because they refuse to wear clothes and it is a true picture of us. but i would not put pictures that i felt to be too naked! if you know what i mean lol.
ReplyDeletei never post pictures of my kids on the internet. and if i do, you can really see who it is... i like sharing my life, i like all my blogg friends but for me isdrawing the line somewhere. it is of course a pitty `couse all children are cute and lovely to see. but your sister is right. there is never possible to know who is looking...
ReplyDeletei meant you can`t see who it is of course !
ReplyDeleteI think naked baby tushes are just plain cute. But I won't share any pictures that show frontal nudity. And I do try to avoid posting terribly embarrassing pictures of my kids (or anyone else for that matter), just as a courtesy.
ReplyDeleteThanks y'all! This has been very helpful. I'm sure my children will be appreciative...in the future. Now they'll just be mad that I'm making them wear clothes.
ReplyDeleteHey Megan ~ thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving such a nice comment.
ReplyDeleteYour children are beautiful and your photography is lovely but yeah...I second guess which pics I post too. The web is too vast an entity to trust sometimes.
Have a great week!!
Tara from Periwinkles & Pine
Have a great week!!
I can definitely see where your sister is coming from! I did take nearly naked pics of my kiddo when he was a baby (private areas always covered), but posting them on a public forum does have it risks.
ReplyDeleteToo bad because it sounds like it was a really cute pic of her!
I think you're on the right path, I don't post any naked pictures of my kids, you never know who is looking or some words you use that someone is putting in google search ie, naked. I had the same problem when my son was potty training and I really wanted to post pics of him just in his undies, but I resisted :)
ReplyDeletePS You are a no-reply blogger! You should change it in your settings, it makes it so much easier to respond and reply to comments :)
quiltstory-i just looked in my settings and don't really see anything. what am i supposed to change?
ReplyDeleteHi Freedom Three, I just found your lovely blog via Yarn Along. I only started blogging a few months ago too and am having similar dilemmas.
ReplyDeleteBefore I started blogging I had a strange thought about Facebook and how my little one is completely comfortable seeing herself on the internet. It just struck me as quite a big concept that we didn't have to wrestle with growing up. What does this web-based openness/fame/notoriety have on a developing personality? Will it make her more comfortable with her appearance, or less? Will she grow up a narcissist? I certainly don't know the answer, but it just struck me as an interesting quandry.
Then I wondered how I would have felt if, at a young age, my Dad had sent a home video into a tv show so that thousands of strangers could see how I looked/sounded/played bad netball (answer - I'd have been MORTIFIED!).
As a result I personally have chosen to start my blog (and though it's definitely a mummy blog) without many shots of my little girl. There are many where she features (a hand, a shadow), but few where she would be recognisable. I'm actually finding it to be quite an interesting challenge to try and create a blog without overtly capturing one of the main subjects. I hope it'll force me into some interesting photography ideas!
ps - as a newbie, I have no idea what "no-reply blogger" is either! I'll keep checking back to see if Quiltstory can give us some hints!
well...i'm going to keep posting pictures of them. i've never really known anyone to be embarrassed of pictures from when they were this little (except the naked ones). So I'm not going to post naked ones. Funny ones...i'll post. Like when they dress themselves, for example. I would certainly hope that my kids are not so self conscious when they are older to be embarrassed of something like that. If when my kids get older they don't want me to have this blog (and if i still have it anyway), then i'll delete it. or stop posting pics of them.
ReplyDeleteGypsymama I esp. like your comment about having this community being worth the risk of over sharing.
Absolutely Megan, and I would never suggest you do anything but carry on exactly as you are, I hope it didn't come across that way, your blog is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI think I'm a bit paranoid actually because my friend works for a software company (one of the BIGGIES) and she keeps yakking on at me about "when you put something on the internet IT'S THERE FOR EVER" (with a soundtrack of crashing doom music and thunderclaps). She kinda scares me actually... (and lets hope there doesn't come a day when cute tiddlers in handknits becomes some sort of problem for anyone!)
oh no! you didn't come across any kind of bad way. it's hard to communicate in typing :-) i was just stating my new mindset. no more naked pics :-)
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