I am a typical Grandparent!
Heaven help me, I take pictures every chance I get and post them online and subject my friends to the sight of random babies popping up on their Facebook feed.
WHAM! BABY EATING SQUASH FOR THE FIRST...BE AMAZED!
( I really posted a picture of that once !)
When our first granddaughter was born, we weren't there, so she was two months old before we saw her in person.
I clearly remember saying that I had never seen a prettier baby in my life.
(What can I say, I was obviously under the baby's spell)
I even said this to my daughter.
Who is not the mother of this grandchild.
(Oh Lord, my daughter was a moody teenager then and was highly offended)
My daughter agreed with me the baby was beautiful , but (see above) , was hurt I didn't still think she was most beautiful baby ever.
(SO SHOOT ME, I later looked at pictures and saw the truth. All babies are beautiful when you are fall in love with them.)
I was enamored, completely.
I took a ton of pictures. This kid as had a well documented life. So has my nephew. My best friends granddaughter and every other baby born into the smart phone generation. Everyone takes pictures of their kids and posts them on line. Not everyone is online smart.
I am an on line smart grandparent. As well as a smart parent, aunt and family photographer. All the settings for my personal social media are set to private.
(As yours should be.)
I still think my granddaughter is beautiful. Of course, a new baby has been born and she usurped grandchild #1's place as the most beautiful baby ever. Numbers 3 and 4 are on the way and I know they will also be the most beautiful babies I have ever seen.
But I won't tag any of the parents in their kids pictures once the babies reach a certain age.
I trust my adult kids but my grandchildren are and will be gorgeous.
(I do not know my adult kids online friends. GASP!)
I have a hard time believing that someone actually knows hundreds of peoples strewn across the USA when they have lived in only two places their entire lives. But that is just me.
(Judgey time. We had conversations about privacy settings, they were ignored.)
So I first simply stopped posting pictures of the oldest granddaughter.
(Then weirdly, my friends asked about her? WTH??? They missed pictures of the silly faces and her hanging upside down at the park or eating a Popsicle with a paper plate covering most of her face. That was my solution to exposing too much of her in a picture and her dripping on my floor.)
So I talked to her mom about why I wasn't posting pictures of her daughter online anymore. I explained about pedophiles and that because her kid was so pretty, maybe she should change her settings, tighten up her friends list, generally gave her some solid safety advice.
I thought.
So she simply stopped posting pictures of her daughter altogether.
(What that was about I have no idea.)
But I still wanted to share with my friends. So I stopped tagging. I have less worry that I might be exposing my loved ones image to people I do not know.
I am not judging anyone. Online friendship can be a lifesaver. But keep the majority of your kids images private. I am not super tech savvy. If I am able to figure this out, so can the generation under me. Do not flash images of your bathing suited toddler to every Tom, Dick and Pedophile that lucks out and you have accepted as a friend and forgotten because you moved on weeks ago. Please do not let our private family celebrations fuel someone else's fantasies.
I have explained to everyone involved why I am choosing not to tag them. They don't seem to be offended. I tag people in the comments so they can see the pictures. Some have copied and posted to their own page. For now, I haven't said anything.
But I have also stopped posting pictures of our older granddaughter like I did previously. I still take them. I save them, but I rarely share now. Bad judgement still exists. I have to protect where I can.So the few pictures posted by me are examined carefully.
Maybe I am paranoid. Maybe I am simply seeing a boogieman where there is none. But better safe than sorry as my grandmother told me.
