The right to privacy

From time to time I will be posting about parenthood and of course that comes with sharing a bit of my daughters life. I am trying to find a balance of how much to share. Mommy blogging can be difficult. You want to share, but that sharing of information should never be to the detriment of your child's privacy. I don't want my daughter to ever look back at posts and be embarrassed that I let everyone read about something she wanted to keep just between us.

Over-sharing of parenthood is the reason why this Facebook group was created. Not a small group either, they have over 31,000 members on Facebook and an even bigger following on the blog page.So why the need for such a group? I think with all the social outlets available, it seems that over sharing has become a lot easier. One click of a button and you can send information out via Facebook, Instagram or Twitter ..sometimes before you have the time to think about how much it can impact you or your family.

As a parent, I understand that feeling of wanting to share the joys of parenthood.  It is quite the feeling when your child accomplishes something, or in most cases when they are just being cute.  You get so excited, that you can't resist posting pictures/videos you've taken of them. For some,  Facebook is the easiest way to share with family members that don't live close by or that you don't see often. How can you deny them the joys of seeing all your cute pictures right?

The STFU group (which does comprise of parents) doesn't take aim until it becomes too much, inappropriate , and something that should be kept private.
I will walk you through a basic example .  Posting a video of you little one taking their first steps is cute.    However, once you post a pic of your little one doing #2 on the toilet for the first time (or anytime), you may get called out.   A big NO to posting what is inside said toilet. You would think that last one is a no brainer, sadly their is a category dedicated to this on the site.
I could go into detail about some of the other faux pas, but you can read about them on her blog (mommy jacking is one of my favorites)
To be honest, i don't care what my friends post on Facebook   There is an easy fix for me, ignore it, or unsubscribe to their status updates.

Recently,  pictures posted by a parent on a popular social media have received some negative attention.  I will not post it here again as i think it has made the online rounds enough. You can see for yourselves on The Mule site (one of many bloggers that took offense to the picture).   First look at it, and you may think it is pretty funny and clever of the parents.  Take a step back and see it from the children's perspective.  Do you think it could be embarrassing  for the children that everyone is getting a good laugh at their expense? They are old enough where someone who knows them is going to tell them that the picture is circulating on the internet...possibly one of their classmates. It will teach them a lesson though, right?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  The only certainty is humiliation.  The act itself is not in question.  The controversy is why is it OK to publicize for all to see.

Liza Long also received negative backlash on her blog post titled  "I am Adam Lanza's Mother".  This blog post was am honest account of her feelings after the Sandy Hook tragedy and how she could relate to raising a child like Adam Lanza.  Although she used a pseudo name for her son, she did post a picture of him and it was written under her name.  It would not be hard for anyone to figure out who her son is.
  At first it was met with sympathy and positive reactions. That is, until readers exposed her other blog posts as undeserving of that sympathy.  Liza was candid about the difficulties she feels parenting her son, but many feel over-shared details that should have been kept private in her blog ""The Anarchist Soccer mom".  Liza stands by all of her blog posts and feels this type of honesty is needed to help many families that otherwise feel they are alone in dealing with similar problems.  Furthermore, she said that her son who is now under the care of a mental health facility also supports her blog posts.  He takes the position that if it can help others, it is a positive thing.

So are mommy bloggers supposed to only write about the bright and cherry side of parenting? Is a blogger only able to be open and honest under an anonymous guise, for fear of experiencing the backlash that Liza Long received. We cant enjoy the humorous side of parenting anymore?  I for one enjoyed a laugh or two at the popular Jimmy Kimmel video in which he asked parents to videotape their children's reaction to being told that they ate all their Halloween candy.  If we cant laugh or have a sense of humour about the difficulties of parenting, well then i think that is sad.  Yes, we need to respect the child's right to privacy, but i don't think those  examples will have the children scarred or thinking they are the victim of cyber bullying by their parents.

They will most likely laugh along or sympathize with us when they are having the same problems with their own kids. Perhaps, even making a blog post/picture/video/shirt of their own.