Do Unto Others

It's time to put on my cranky pants and get on my soap box.  This morning I read a blurb (definitely not an in-depth article) on CNN.com about whether or not "mommy bloggers" should blog about their kids without their kids' permission.  First of all, I hate the word "mommy" when it's used like an adjective as in "mommy bloggers", "mommy wars", "mommy makeover" blah blah blah.  Gag me.  It sounds so juvenile and it reduces women to nothing but a caricature, IMHO.  But that's beside the point.  Should parents (mommies in particular) blog about their kids without the kids' permission?

In my opinion, people should blog about their children very cautiously.  If a kid is no longer comfortable with his or her life on display then parents should respect that. To me, there is a fine line between relating a story and spreading gossip.  Call me paranoid, but I believe that what you say can and will be used against you at some point.  Just because you can blog about it, doesn't mean you should.  The Golden Rule is very appropriate in this case.  If you don't want your embarrassing moments blogged about, then don't do it to your kids.  Conversely, if you like to have your entire life on display, consider that others may not.  And consider that you don't know what others can do with the information you put out in the blogosphere.

And yes, you can call me a Jesus Freak, but I believe the Golden Rule applies especially in our interactions with children.  Why?  Because believe it or not, they watch and hear everything that we do and they can spot a double standard and smell hypocrisy a mile away.  Parents are children's first teachers and ideally, parents should set the example and the standard.  Besides, you don't know what kids may blog about you. :-)

I have chosen not to use my real name or use the names of my children in my blog.  They are entitled to their privacy.  That doesn't mean that I don't write about their challenges or stuff that they do, but I try to choose my words carefully.  People don't need to know every sordid detail of our individual lives or our family life.  (Besides it's not that interesting.) Time to take off the cranky pants and put on a pair of comfy jeans.

So, if you call me "paranoid" and "Jesus Freak" in the same sentence then I guess that makes me a "paranoid Jesus Freak".  :-)