In the end, I’ll probably use their first name.

There were so many factors in the decision, but the overwhelming aspect of it came down to public records. Would I call my child by his/her name out loud in a public area where there are strangers? Yes. I wouldn’t think twice about it, even though their name would be out there in the open. The name is a public designation of identity and moreover, it is easily searchable by my name. Blogs can be hacked, identities can be revealed, and people can figure out where you live and what your kids’ names are anyway. So there is only limited privacy to begin with.

I think that if you take your children’s privacy and safety into consideration, you’ll be okay. Everybody has different standards for privacy and safety, and in our case it just doesn’t apply to the name of our child. If I want to protect his/her privacy, I’ll just be cautious about what I write.

So, if I were to post this story using names, someone might get embarrassed when he or she gets older. This is true!

Apollo, Artemis, Bert and Ernie are all together on the playground. Apollo and Ernie are in the same class (hint, hint).

Apollo says to Artemis: I bet you don’t know anything about my friend Ernie.
Artemis: I know something about Ernie. He has legs
Ernie: I know something about Artemis. She has a vagina.

“Oldest” and “youngest” gets a little tired, and I am not overly worried about security (both are online at this point using various usernames), but I still err on the side of caution.

Didn’t help not too long ago, when I used a picture of a birthday cake and you could clearly see the name of my youngest son! LOL!! Oh, well.

Personally, I think pictures are more dangerous. I have seen blogs with pictures of everywhere, everybody and everything; house, living room, yard, car, etc. If we are really worried about privacy, that is one area that would really be a security issue for me.

P.S. I will take the survey!

As a parent of twins, finding pseudonyms that one can keep straight is a challenge.

And we are not a family that uses endearments or nicknames readily. Names like the Nerd, which Christine uses her husband appeal … I am Australian, we love to abuse and swear! … but acronyms (DH, etc.) and nicknames like Snickety Poo make feel uncomfortable.

I may have to work on some others, like Bert and Ernie. But what would I call their dad? He’s too short to be Big Bird. And that’s probably trademarked anyway.

My first job is to protect my children, so if I’m going to blog about mothering them, I can’t let the blogging come before their safety.