It's tricky, this whole "writing about life as a parent online" thing. The subject of my kids' online presence is a topic I've discussed here ad nauseam - why I share some things about my children, but not others (the general rule of thumb being that I talk about them in the context of *my* experience as a mother, rather than their experiences as children), why I use pseudonyms for them (largely because I don't want to create a Google landscape for them that's based entirely on their mother's job), et cetera. It's tricky, and it's getting trickier as they get older, and start to wrap their minds around what, exactly, their mom is doing when she's jumping around in front of a camera or holding a product just-so for an Instagram or pecking away on her computer, the words interspersed with images of...them.

I've been talking about what I do with my son since he was two years old: I'm constantly explaining to him what I do for a living, why I do it, et cetera. I tell him that I write stories about my life, and that he and his sister are the biggest part of my life, so sometimes the stories include them, too. I try to explain why someone - especially someone who doesn't know us - might want to read these stories; how sometimes it feels good to know that other people are going through the same stuff that you are. I try to be extremely clear about the difference between photographs that are taken just for me, and photographs that are taken for work purposes - if Kendrick takes a picture of me that I intend to use online, I make sure the kids know what we're doing. I don't want them to confuse working with living, and the oddities of my job make that a complicated conversation to have.

And then there's taking photographs of them, which is even more complicated. I've explained to both of my kids that sometimes I'm being paid to take photographs of a kids' product, and I'd appreciate their help, but I try to be clear that they are helping me with my work, and they do not have to do this. It is not a five-year-old's obligation to contribute to the family coffers. If Indy wants to participate in a shoot that I'm being paid for, I pay him in turn - both through deposits into his college account and in a more tangible way for a kid his age, with a small toy or a treat, so he understands the difference between photographs taken for fun, and photographs taken because they're a part of my - again, not his - job.

The Instagram-friendly Disneyland family portrait, which came neither easily nor naturally

Last year we went to Disneyland as a family for the very first time, and we completely fell in love with the place. Having gone in with expectations of total madness and three-hour-long lines and oversugared, undernapped, hysterical children, we were happily shocked when we emerged from our two days of Disney with oversugared, undernapped, hysterical children who were nevertheless in a state of total nirvana - as were we - and immediately decided that an annual trip was in order.

So I'm not going to say that today took us entirely by surprise. Best laid plans, et cetera.