I will be the first one to admit I love babies squishy bums. They are so darn cute! Everything about a naked baby shouts innocence and just plain adorableness. But for some reason whenever I see a picture of one on Facebook or Instagram I feel uneasy. And it took me a while to figure out exactly why. If our number one priority in life as moms (and dads) is to protect our children then why are we putting these pictures out in the world?
I assume that these pictures are intended for our friends and family to gush over how sweet they are because in all honesty, they are adorable! And, only meant for well-meaning eyes. But with one or two clicks a picture can be saved and spread and you will never get it back for your eyes only. Even if well-meaning parents have profiles set private it is so easy for these sweet innocent pictures to fall into the wrong hands.
I am going to make an educated guess that 99.999% of your ‘friends’ on social media only have good intentions, but what if there is someone in your ‘circle’ that you forgot about? Or they have had a past you didn’t know about? Or even have a few screws loose? I’m just not willing to take that risk. You will never see any of my kid’s adorable butts online. Their innocence is one thing that I want to hold on to for as long as I can.
If you know me you know that I post a lot of pictures of my little loves. I love spreading the sweetness of my three kiddos on Detroit Moms Blog, and my own social media and blog. How is that different you might ask? No, I don’t have their permission and, one day if they ask me to stop I will respect that. But for now, it’s a great way for my great aunt in Atlanta to see what they are up to. And my family in Canada to keep up with their school pictures and our adventures to the pumpkin patch. I love that social media has made my connections with family and friends that are far away so simple and easy. Yes, I am aware that someone could also screenshot the picture of my kids in regular clothes and use it for devious purposes, but I just feel like that risk is so much less.
If you do snap bathtub pics of your kids, when do they get too old? When is that baby booty too old to be naked online? Two-years-old? Four-years-old? When does it become inappropriate?
Now, I know that I am going to to get a ton of backlash on this. I am positive that parents have only positive intentions when they do this. I have quite a few friends that post really cute pictures. There is no judgment coming from me. It is only a voice of concern and love.
Am I super jaded? Maybe. Are my mama-bear instincts going into overdrive? Probably. Am I a little overprotective? Absolutely. Am I a little paranoid? Definitely yes. And I’m not going to apologize for it.
Odds are nothing bad will ever happen to those pictures. Odds are I am totally wrong. And I really hope I am. But this is just one mom doing what I think is best.
