Sometimes I regret my open blogging. I can see the appeal of blogging anonymously protecting the family from outside interference. That really wasn’t an option for me. My name is all over this website and therefore I would have to blog featuring who I am.
I also made the decision early on to use my kids names and photos. Part of this had to do with the changing nature of the internet. It would be very easy to look up who my kids are. Part of it also had to do with the fact that I have a lot of kids, and if I’m going to talk about them, I needed to be able to do so clearly and concisely. And those photos of kids in blogs where the identity is hidden by never showing faces? I hate those. I never really see the point in even bother to put up the picture.
So I’m perhaps too much of an open book. It’s a choice, and I stick by it. Of course there are consequences. Sometimes I wind up putting my foot in my mouth. Sometimes there are things I want to say, but I know that certain people will read this, or at least have ready access, and it’s not necessarily the repercussions I fear, but having to go into a long explanation about something that really isn’t worth the time and effort. This is of course hampered by the fact that some of these people I have never met in real life.
Further confusing the matter is the crossing of two different groups. There is the “professional” group, with whom I have been doing business for years, not just at this website, but before I even started it. I’m not necessarily worried about offending them, but how much is appropriate for them to be able to read? Then there is the “personal” group of online personalities, those that I am more comfortable sharing those things that blogs are usually about.
Sometimes in attempting to straddle that line I completely miss the mark. Sometimes I throw caution to the wind, and wind up doing something stupid. Sometimes it is on the blog, sometimes it is through other social media avenues.
Still, I think it is a better decision for me to have my blog open, to not hide my family. I may be ashamed of some things I do, but I’m not ashamed of who we are.