My mother is now on Facebook. I’ve considered changing my privacy settings to compensate for this new reality.

But I’m going to hold out for evidence that such a bold move is necessary. More concerning in this age of social media interconnectedness is that I’m on Facebook and that I have young children who have no privacy controls of their own!

Luckily for my kids, I didn’t join Facebook until they were well beyond babyhood… Because I surely would have posted every precious photo of my more than mildly impressive offspring. And possibly TMI about their every burble, burp and diaper rash.

My kids are older. They’re in that cute, can you believe they said that, stage of life. And I often can’t resist posting some of the priceless gems that come out of their mouths.

Recently, what came out of my eldest son’s mouth was, “You could ask me first before you put what I say online.” Ohhh, that’s right. What I say online affects other people. Even seemingly harmless, silly, funny and cute comments.

Later, I overheard a new mom lamenting about her infant not sleeping well. She said that her baby’s sleeping habits are less exasperating than reading all of her other mom friend’s Facebook posts about how their babies sleep like little lambs.

You’ve seen those posts: “My little angel baby slept through the night, AGAIN.”

Gold star to mom and baby. GAG! But I had no idea those types of posts were having such a corrosive affect on other poor mothers who’re just trying to schlep through their days without breast milk soaking their shirts.

I cried most nights with my sleepless newborn—so exhausted. I believed I surely wouldn’t survive those first months. Sheesh, If I’d been on Facebook then, un-friending a gold star mom might have come right after posting more than a frowny face on her wall. Just saying.

There’s a Wall Street Journal story about “oversharenting.” Yep, that’s a term now. It refers to parents who share too much about their kiddos online.

You know, that place where no digital picture or blog post can ever be truly undone?

We lecture teenagers about keeping their private lives private. To not post embarrassing photos that might someday interfere with their employment or dating opportunities. And then parents post all kinds of things about little kids—who have no control, have not given permission and have not opted in to our social media circus.

Do we owe it to our young ones and other parents of young ones to keep quieter?

There’s even a website dedicated to posts from people who oversharent. I didn’t see any of my oversharenting posts on there. But I am going to think more carefully before posting details and photos of people who are too young to consent.

After all, my mom is on Facebook now. Hopefully, I beat her to the punch by posting my own baby picture!

Like us on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Sign up for our newsletter