There’s no doubt about it, blogging is a great outlet for the stay at home mom or housewife.  It lets us share our thoughts, feelings, and knowledge with the world, and it gives us an avenue to make connections with others.  But it is crucial to be mindful of those we write about when blogging, particularly our families.

Obviously, safety can be a concern when blogging about our kids.  We don’t want anyone and everyone knowing identifying details about them.  But there is also the matter of respect.  Your significant other, as well as other adults in your life, may not like the idea of having their names and details about them out there in the blogosphere.

So what does all this mean?  It certainly doesn’t mean that you can’t blog to your heart’s content.  It just means that you may need to make a few adjustments.  Here are some things to consider:

• It’s perfectly acceptable to blog under a pen name.  Authors often do this because they want their work to be anonymous, but it also works well for maintaining your family’s anonymity.  You could even use their real first names if you like.

• If you use your real name, consider using nicknames for members of your family.  If you want to receive full credit for your work while protecting your family, you can achieve both by doing this.

• Try to avoid giving out identifying details.  Your blog readers do not need to know what school your children go to, what their activity schedules are, or what kinds of cars they drive.  It’s easy to let little things like this slip, so make it a point to read over what you write a time or two before it’s published.

• If you’re posting pictures of your children, it’s especially important to take measures to maintain their anonymity.  Nicknames, a pen name for you, and being vague about where you are located are in order.

• It’s easy for any Internet user to look up the name, address, and phone number of the person that a domain name is registered to, and this could put your family at risk.  You can avoid this scenario by getting privacy protection on your blog’s domain when you purchase it.  Or if you’re blogging under your own name, you could simply get a Post Office box in a nearby town and use it when registering your domain name.  You could also have your blog hosted through a free blog provider such as WordPress.com or Blogger.com so you don’t have that to worry about.

Every blogger has a responsibility to keep his or her loved ones’ best interests in mind.  That doesn’t mean that you can never speak of them, just that it’s important to write in a way that respects their rights and maintains their safety.