Hittin' the Trail

The bloggy trail lately got flooded and proved to steep for me to navigate. It was overrun by giant bloodsucking mosquitoes. It was hot, cold, muddy and windy. There were bears.

My life got in the way of my blog. It was too extreme for me to post anything more than a a few pictures and some giveaways. I can't write about the sorrow- it's too fresh. Maybe in time. In the meantime, I've had a few distractions- St. Patrick's Day, Zombiegirl's birthday, and an up-coming yard sale, not to mention, Work.

This post was going to be about Zombiegirl's birthday party, since it was SO awesome, but I got to thinking about the ramifications of putting up her and her friends pictures for all the Internet world to see. I mean, at least four of the blogs I follow daily all show pictures of their kids, and write about them, too. So I started doing some research on "Mommyblogs" and the opinions that others have about these bloggers writing about the intricacies of their children's lives. And what I saw totally changed my opinion not only about what I write, but about what blogs I now choose to follow.

None of the blogs I follow could be classified as "Mommyblogs". Undomesticated Diva posts pictures about her kids, but doesn't give daily updates about what they're doing, where they're going or how much she hates them. I like her style of writing- she actually made me laugh out loud a few times. She says the F-word without remorse. I'm not too sure I like her picking on her husband though (she calls him "CandyAss"- it smacks of Jon and Kate plus 8) but I think it's all a ruse- she really loves him. PioneerWoman posts pictures of her "punks" and sometimes blogs about their adventures, like this and this. But I'm not classifying it as a "Mommyblog"- she's got the whole cooking and photography thing going on, too.

But here's the rub. They ARE posting pictures of their children. They ARE writing things about their children. Yes, the naked picture of P-dub's son sleeping naked on the sidewalk might be cute, but can you imagine what his friends are going to say to him when he gets older? I'm not going to get into the whole child exploitation thing (can you say "Dooce?") for monetary gain. I just don't think it's right that these kids are living a fishbowl type of life. There are crazies out there.

During my research, I stumbled on Poop on Peeps. ChickenLiver is a gutsy, ballsy woman who takes parenting seriously. She really lets these bloggy ladies know that it's NOT alright to post disparaging pictures or stories about your kids for the world to see. She gets a lot of flack from the "doocelings" and the "PWits," but that's okay. It shows that a lot of the crazies out there follow these blogs with almost religious fervor. Kind of proves her point.

So off my soapbox. I'm not posting pics of Zombiegirl or her friends on this blog anymore. I will link to a Flickr account so my friends (the only ones who read this) can see the pics. I'm going to be removing the ones I've already posted. I"m not even posting the pictures on Facebook. Did you know if you send a message to someone, you gain a limited amount of access to their profile, and can see their pics? Being on the Internet is in no way a private affair.

So is the Bloggy Trail clear now? Is it sunny and warm? No. But it's passable. Stay tuned.

Update: I was given erroneous information. On Facebook, you CANNOT see another's pictures by getting a message from someone who is not your friend. Just be careful who you pick as your friends!