Are you a Momarazi? a Paparazzi Parent?!

Last Mother’s Day had me wondering what kind of mom I was – Tiger, Chopper or Free range when Tiger mom was all the rage. It is crazy how media makes you question yourself! This Mother’s Day I’m wondering if I’m a Momarazi, a parent that has turned into a Paparazzi Parent. Are you a Momarazi?

Urban Dictionary: momarazzi

I thought I was clever to have coined the term but no it already exists in the Urban Dictionary, I’m just using the word a little broadly… Are you a parent with a camera or smart device photographing your kids and sharing it on social media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.  Do you find your lenses capturing their every move during your travels then you are a Paparazzi Parent at some level. I recently joined the tribe of Travel Bloggers – although we have been travelling as a family for over 15 years, this blogging and sharing our family travels and pictures is new territory for me.  I have always enjoyed reading the different travel sites before planning our travels whether it be the likes of Yahoo Travel and Lonely Planet, or the more personal stories by Rick Stevens, looking at TravelBabbo or Landlopers travel photographs or Candice’s sketches for Travel inspiration.  I was inspired enough that I wanted to join them – I decided to create and contribute to the blogging world, so what used to be yearly photo albums turned into online journals.

 

My family travel pictures – amateur it may be, once private is online now, uploaded and tagged, searchable and shareable.  In the process of writing and journaling I find my self capturing more photos during our trips than before – every meal, every moment is captured. I find I have turned into a Paparazzi Parent – a Momorazzi!! I saw a recent clip of the little Kardhasian walking in her little tutu saying No Photo to the paparazzi who went click click anyway, ignoring the little girl.  As I was working on the blog this weekend I saw a pic of my kids in a similar pose – in Seville last summer, they were giving me the Whatever face since I was going all Paparazzi on them.  My kids have no problem with me taking pictures of them before, but the constant clicking at every stop and every meal got to their nerve I guess and I got the W face!

We all leave our little digital footprints around that can be tracked if someone chooses to.  We share our coffee and our bucket list with the world.  We tell them what we like, where we shop, where we go, what we do… We trust our digital community that we live in, not every one online is a pedophile or a cyber stalker but it is better to be safe and use common sense and some social etiquette. There is always a hesitation when you put your kids out there into the unknown. This made me wonder where should I draw the line, when to just put the camera down and enjoy the moment and when to capture and catalog them, more importantly how to make sure I don’t put my kids and family in jeopardy. I realized I have to establish some ground rules here – some of these are just common sense and social etiquette but better to have some rules nevertheless!

 

So here are my 10 Social Media Etiquette for a Momarazzi

1. Do not post pictures of other kids, unless you can get the consent of their family.  How often can you track down a parent to ask for approval before posting their picture so easiest thing to do is crop them out. If it is friends’ kids make sure you get their approval before posting the pic.
2. Ask your child if it is ok to post the pic – teenagers and tweens would appreciate you asked them and might actually pose for you. If they say No respect it.
3. Don’t post picture of kids or family in compromising situations, Ask yourself – “how would my child feel about this photo in 20 years”? Last you want is a kid being bullied because of a holiday photo online.
4. Don’t post pictures real time – Post it at night after the activity or the next day.  No one needs to know you are headed into the woods for a hike or you are going to be at the café or bar at a certain time.
5. Take a picture before the meal and let it be-  post it after you finish your meal.  There are restaurants and chefs who get annoyed at people taking food pictures and then complaining the food is cold.  Appreciate the effort that went into making that plate. Enjoy the meal! Eat it before you tweet it!
6. Blur out car license plates and Hotel room numbers or House addresses or other identifying information.
7. Be creative with the pictures, you don’t always have to have the faces of the kids plastered smack center of the photo.  Take pictures of the them from a distance so you can capture the location with the kids in it.
8. Don’t geotag pictures close to home, school or other places frequented by the kids, that could place your child at those locations easily, you have no control over who looks at the pictures.
9. Take a social media off day during the trips – and enjoy the surrounding without the social media even if only for a day or a few hours.
10. Cherish and Relish every moment with your kids, because tomorrow they will be older and you can never have this day again with your children!

Happy Mother’s day!