An Important Message From Tegan

The girl and I are usually the first two out of bed in the morning (excluding Mike, who is long gone for work before we even think about getting up) Most mornings, I check my email and Facebook, and she sits in my lap while she wakes up. This morning we were looking through some new pictures posted by a friend, and she was asking questions about the kids she was seeing.

I don't mind answering questions. Not only do I not mind it, but I appreciate it, and I relish it. It's such a huge component of any interaction with a toddler! And it's sweet to sit with her, just the two of us, and look at pictures together.

But,

She asks hard questions. Questions with answers that I just have no way of knowing, at least not with the kind of detail she would like. And so, I would like to request (on behalf of my daughter) that when you caption your children's pictures on Facebook, that you take just a quick second and include the following:

The names and ages of everyone in the picture.

The name and age of the person taking the picture.

If the person taking the picture is a parent, whether or not the children in the picture have another parent, and where that parent is at the time of the picture taking. Especially whether or not they are in the bathroom (and if they're in the bathroom, whether they are going #1 or #2. Or are in the shower. Or the bath.)

Whether or not the children in the picture have a dog or a fish or chickens.

Why they're wearing the clothes they're wearing, and where they got them, and whether or not someone helped them get dressed.

Who combed their hair, and did they have tangles.

Whether or not their shirts have buttons in the back.

If it's taken outside, how long the trees have been there.

If their legs aren't showing, whether or not they do in fact have some, and whether or not they can walk.

And finally... a brief description of why you took the picture, why you put it on Facebook, and what you did when you were done.

Thank you.