When I started this blog a few years ago, I thought it would just be someplace fun where I could share stories about motherhood, my daughter, and whatever else happened to come to mind. I occasionally posted photos of my child (I only had one up until earlier this year), knowing that my friends and family could come here to see what I was writing.

Then, I started sharing my blog. On Facebook pages, on forums…

And then I came to the realization that many people – nameless, faceless people that I didn’t know – were seeing these posts and seeing my child.

And when it dawned on me that anyone could save these photos and use them for whatever purpose they wished, I decided that I needed to take the photos down.

This isn’t my Facebook page, which is locked down pretty tight. The people who see this blog might be friends or family, but they could be total strangers, too, and I’m no longer comfortable sharing photos of my children here. I don’t allow my children’s faces to be shown on my Instagram page, so why do I allow them to show up on this site?

I’ve kept the photos of myself and my husband; we’re both adults who can decide where our pictures can be posted and who can see them. It feels a little irresponsible to keep pictures of my children up on my blog for the world to see.

I will admit, I’ll miss seeing the photos every time I look at this blog, but it’s better this way.