Mommy Blogging: On Creating Personal Boundaries Before Creating a Personal Blog

In the past few weeks, there has been a lot of discussion amongst mom and dad bloggers about posting pictures and possibly embarrassing stories of their children. Two “mommy bloggers” that I really respect and appreciate had interesting perspectives to share – Jessica Gottlieb and Scary Mommy – so make sure to check out their thoughts on this subject as well.

If you read through the content of this blog, you can probably guess where I stand on this topic. I have a couple of policies and boundaries that I created for myself and my family before I published my very first post in August 2009:

• I do not use the real names of my toddler, my husband, or any other family member. I have 2 reasons for that. I value and respect their privacy and none of them have given me permission to use their names.
• I do not post face-forward pictures for the exact same reasons.
• I do not write about them very often and, when I do, I make sure that it’s not about something that will come back to haunt or embarrass them later. Or, at least, I don’t think it will.
• My family has the power to veto a post.

Ain’t Yo Mama’s Blog is a blog about parenting. I identity myself as a mommy who blogs. I blog about parenting, family, and relationships but I also blog about national and global issues that I believe affect us as parents and families. Having a platform to write about topics that speak to me has been an incredible and valuable outlet. However, it’s also been a great exercise in self-restraint and censorship. (continues…)