My kids are 5 & 6, and I love sharing our family and parenting journey. Online I have a group of women and mothers that help me negotiate and normalize all the wonderful and challenging aspects of mothering. Connecting and watching my friends and family’s lives evolve over social media has been a benefit of the Information Age. However, I’m worried, and I hope my kids don’t mind me sharing so much of their childhood.
I was born in 1980. Family photos were frequent but on film, dropped off, picked up and thoughtfully sifted through. Albums of favorite photos were stored on a book shelf next to the encyclopedias. There were TVs with no remotes and telephones with long, stretchy coiled cords that reached from our kitchen to my parents’ bedroom. My grandpa would set up the Atari every time we visited. There were no computers or smart phones and no precedent on how my parents dealt with these challenges.
Now in 2018, this 80s mom is learning how to parent all this technology while navigating it myself. This has raised some interesting conversations related to what and how much to share. Am I affecting my kids’ future algorithm by posting so many zoo pictures? Will my oldest daughter’s algorithm know she is allergic to peanuts? In 32 years will they see one of their newborn photos on their birthday time hop? Or in 28 years see our family vacation to Disney? Have our children given us consent to share all these intimate and special details of their life?
While I don’t have answers for these questions, families all over are negotiating these same concepts.
Here are 5 general tips we use when deciding what content and pictures to post.
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Always frame your child in a positive light. I think most parents can agree our kids are AWESOME!
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Never share pictures of your child in any “state of undress.”
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Be thoughtful about sharing your child’s precise schedule, routines, schools and location.
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If you are going online for help with your child’s behavioral issues, keep any information-sharing anonymous
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Don’t post comments or situations that might embarrass your child now or in the future.
Our kids are still little, so this is just the beginning of parenting technology. Hopefully they will look back on our memories with as much nostalgia as I already do.
Any moms of pre-teens or teens out there? What tips do you have for older kids?