A friend recently asked me why I don't include my child's name on our voice mail greeting. Our current greeting goes something like this: "Hi, this is B** and K**. Sorry we missed you, please leave a message. Thanks!" This friend has a similar greeting but her MIL insists that she include her daughter's name. I told her I have a few reasons, but mostly it's for privacy.
1.) M isn't exactly taking calls at this age 2.) Strangers don't need to know how many kids I have and what their names are 3.) People that already know us, already know that information. 4.) A predator only needs a phone number and a name in order to learn a whole lot more about you.
I even get a little anxious when solicitors come to my door and want to know what my husband does for a living, where he does it, my child's name and age. Maybe I'm crazy. Maybe most people are generally honest and decent. I just don't know, and I'm not willing to risk it these days. It's the same when I'm blogging. A blogger just never knows who might look at their blog--old college roommates, former love interests, relatives, friends of friends of friends. I think it's great. But I'd rather be safe than sorry, so I don't use any full names of my family members and certainly not of any children. I know other bloggers that falsify names altogether of use strictly nicknames. I suppose I'm just a product of our times, leery of the weirdos that litter our world. I remember when it was advisable for kids to wear ID Bracelets for safety. I'm not sure I'd do that for my own child. The less information available to the public, the better. No?
So, what's your stance? Do you name names on your blog? Do you name names on your answering machine? Am I just a teensy bit paranoid?
7 comments:
No kiddo names on my blog, but we do use our first names...Greg and I. :) No voice messaging in this house, are you kidding...then I'd have to call people back. This way I feel no guilt whatsoever. :) And I don't think you are overly cautious. There really are to many freaky people in the world.
I must point out, however that your email address on your blog most definitely gives away your first name.
No names on my blog either. One cousin has a code name for everyone in the family. So you have to really think when you read her blog to figure out who she's talking about. But I do have friends that give everything. It's a little risky
I use pseudonyms on my blog, and I never ever get my kids names embroidered on backpacks, etc. Our answering machine doesn't even have our last name on it. If you're my friend, you probably already know who you're calling.
I use first names only and try not to disclose our location. Our answering machine is the computer recording so it doesn't even have our names. I hate those cute little messages that has every family member saying their name. barf!
and, no, no toddler bed yet. long story i'll have to email you about. good luck!
this is such a great question.. but no, your li'l boy doesn't need to be on your answering machine, that's bizarre. i'm sure he doesn't feel left out.
i like how you keep things undercover, you got to do what you feel right about. keep up the good work, miss kj.
First of all, get rid of those solicitors. I find a hand-written note in a brightly colored sharpie stating, "No soliciting please" does the trick. Unless of course, your daughter has smart-alecky friends who use the same brightly colored sharpie to turn the sign over and write, "Solicit Please." Secondly, we like to use our answering machine to tell outrageous lies about our family, such as "Hey, this is the _______. We're out by our pool."('cause we have one...NOT!) Or, "We're on our way to catch the Hogwarts Express!: ('cause that's a real place...NOT!) Or my personal favorite, "Thank you for calling the _________igloo. We'll get back to you when we thaw out! "('cause winter where we live never ends!) Anyway, if you lie about yourselves on the answering machine, or your blog for that matter, they really don't know who or what you are!
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