Proud vs. Private

Monday, May 12, 2008

I have been called obnoxiously proud when it comes my son. He is my heart, my precious cargo, my favorite. And he's totally gorgeous. (I had a pic up for a little while yesterday).

We're all a bit biased when it comes to our kids and naturally think ours are the cutest on the planet. I'm no exception. The fact that he's a beautiful person too makes him all the more attractive.

Since infancy, we get stopped by people admiring and commenting on his looks. True tales, I had one mom say she wished her kids were as cute and a tweenager said I should take her number so he can call her when he's 18. That one creeped me out. A lot.

And it just kills me not to show him off here. I want to. But I can't.

Because then Petey the Pedophile, Larry the Letch and Deviant Dave will be able to see him too.

I've said I have an overactive imagination. And my biggest fear is that someone will take him from me.

When he was little, a woman leaned over his stroller and said, "oh he's so cute I just want to take him!" It took tons of self control not to knock her on her butt.

I know she didn't mean it, but seriously? Who says that?

For those of you with photos online, did you struggle with the decision? Any regrets?

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7 comments:

  1. you know, that thought in particular has never crossed my mind - the Deviant Dave thing. your son is much more striking looking than most kids though. i think people have a reaction when they see him.

    i do worry about someone taking my son when my husband is out with him. because daddy's such a scatterbrain, i can see him leaving him in the window coverings section of home depot and forgetting. (please god no.)

    oh, and that woman who said she just wanted to take him? wtf.

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  2. While I totally get what you're saying here (have you seen photos of my middle rat?), I'm just not terribly afraid of those things. Maybe that's denial on my part, I don't know.

    But no, I've never really struggled with the decision. I guess I've always just thought...shoot, I don't know. I guess I've always felt like it'll be okay. So far, so good.

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  3. Hey we have the same counters in our kitchen!

    Okay, on your real topic: I do post pics of the kids. I don't post real names, or any info that could identify where we live beyond our state. I figure that there are many more chances that someone will snatch up my precious child in Target one day than that someone will be intrepid enough to track me down based on my anonymous blog. I am careful, though, about the pictures: nothing in the background that would obviously identify a location, unless it's someplace really neutral like the Detroit Zoo (it's already clear I live in MI), and NEVER any "cutie nekkid" pictures, no matter how cute. Those I just keep at home for the family.

    Also, I avoid writing phrases that might draw attention to the site from unwanted visitors. So, if I want to tell a story about something silly my daughter did while potty training, I will be very careful about how I refer to her as un-clothed. So the phrase "n@ked grrrl" could should up, but not that phrase with the words spelled properly. That way, I don't end up with something that could inadvertently be a Google search term that I wouldn't want landing people on my site. It's easy enough to spell such a phrase funny, or put a * in the middle of the word or something, so that you then won't get searches from people who are actually looking for off-color versions those things (as I've just done above to avoid same on your site via my comment).

    Taking those measures, I think, is sensible and cautious. And then I don't worry so much about the pictures, which, in fact, I love to share.

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  4. Forgot to add: thanks for coming to my site, and for commenting on the Kirtsy post!

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  5. Thanks ladies. And thanks mommytime for the spelling suggestion. I never thought about that. And yes, WTF? "He's so cute I want to squeeze him," or pinch him or something but not take him. That's not cool.

    I asked hubby yesterday, "if I had a blog, would you care if I posted pictures?" and he said no.

    He actually encouraged be to start a blog so he's know when I'm mad at him and why!

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  6. I absolutely struggle with this and still hope I'm making the right decisions. I'm SUPER paranoid in real life about Stranger Danger, etc. and I blur out pertinent information in pictures ... but I, too, and proud. It's a tough call, and a personal decision.

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  7. Someone once told me that it is much more likely to have a pedophile sitting across from your kid's school taking photos of them than someone stalking them on your blog.
    I do post photos - occasionally. For now. Maybe I'll change my mind someday. But I also try to not name places - like their school, my church, city, etc.

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