Permission to Blog

A few weeks ago I saw someone post a sponsored post about overnight diapers for older kids.  The post was well written and while it was a sponsored post-I know there are a lot of parents out there who need a product like the one she was describing so I got why she accepted it (well, beyond the compensation).

What stayed with me, after I had read the post, was that she used her five/six year old son as an example and how they personally used the products-her son had bed wetting issues.  Now I personally don't think there is anything to be ashamed of, nor something to make fun of but I have a feeling other six year old boys may not feel the same. And with kids these days (do I sound like an old fuddy duddy yet?) having access to the internet earlier and earlier-it may not be long before his classmates find that blog post.

It made me very conscious of what I post here. It is such a fine line of being an authentic parent who blogs-I want to share my stories and my life but I have to honor my daughter's story as well.  Boyfriend and I have never felt that it was wrong to be so public with sharing our experiences and pictures of our kids.  I don't believe that having pictures of my two year old nudist's butt on the internet will cause her emotional trauma, I don't want to raise my daughter to be the kind of person who let's things like that get under her skin.  I know we have some nature vs nurture that will play into it, but I do have (some) influence.

In my mind though, there is a vast difference between a two year old naked butt and posting a private medical issue.  That line seems very defined and easy for me to distinguish.  But what about the not so clear items-bed sharing situations, discipline problems, educational concerns?  Up until now, I have taken my children's feelings into consideration, there have been some posts I have not made simply because my gut tells me that they may not want that out there.  I suppose the obvious answer is to just ask permission from my kids as soon as they are old enough to understand.

I know how many views I get on this blog per day and while it isn't a super "successful" one by any means-I do have a large handful of daily visitors, I suppose wanting to know what is going on in my life.  For myself and my readers-I want to be real.  I want to talk about the things that so few others do.  The other bloggers out there that post about the harder subjects, sometimes those people are my lifelines-solidarity on knowing someone else is going through something I am (and hopefully how to get through it).  I hope I can inspire other moms like they inspire me.

While I'm still pondering on what is appropriate vs inappropriate I will leave you with this picture of Evelyn.  I don't even have to ask permission, I know her answer because she asked me to take the picture and post it on Facebook so our family could see it.  Which is an entirely different blog in itself.