Our Mommyhood

Posts Tagged ‘ethics’

Betsy, Contributor, Funky Mama Bird (@funkymamabird)

Two very well-known and widely-read bloggers with both older children and toddlers have recently made statements to the effect that they will not be publishing as much content about their older kids. Their reasons for this announcement varied, with one blogger saying she didn’t want to publicly “label” or “box” her children, and the other saying that her child was requesting more privacy. Both bloggers feel that their toddlers are still fair game, and have announced their intentions to continue blogging about them.

While there is no official Blogging Ethic, many bloggers feel that holding to a similar ethics code as journalists or A Bloggers Code of Ethics makes sense. This code of ethics only addresses children as such, “Show compassion for those who may be affected adversely by Weblog content. Use special sensitivity when dealing with children…”.

As a freelance journalist and writer, as well as a blogger I can’t help but wonder about where that line is. Is it when my child is old enough to understand my actions in blogging, or is it now when he is too young to understand?

My blog, like many personal blogs, is a place for me to record events in my life. Whether I choose to highlight every event, only a few events or to dramatize these events, I blog for myself. Unlike my other writing, I have no editor censoring me, holding me to AP style grammar and questioning if my blog is “on topic” enough.

Since my child is a part of my life, he is a part of my blog. I have publicly discussed his poop, his wheat allergies and his addiction to his sleep sacks. But there are things I haven’t discussed; things that I feel are no one’s business but ours. And I wonder if I’ve drawn the line too vaguely, if by censoring some things and not others I’m doing him a disservice, either by not presenting the whole picture or by presenting any of these things at all.

Like all other parenting decisions that I make, I try to make the ones that I feel most benefit both of us. I need to care for and protect my child, but as the saying goes, “If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.” So I’m conflicted; at times I feel I’ve struck that happy medium between writing for myself, writing uncensored and documenting my life and protecting my child, at other times I wonder if I veer too far in one direction or another.

Should we, as so-called Mommy Bloggers, be forging our own code of ethics? Or is up to us as individuals to strike that balance for ourselves and our families?

I’m interested in hearing your thoughts.