The Young Ones

It's easy enough to decide what information to publish about living people (clue: none) but what should I record in my family history database?  Anything I do record runs the risk of being published if I have a moment's inattention; but I also come from a family that doesn't share the news about hatches matches and dispatches as readily as others do, so anything I do record will never be up-to-date.  I suppose I could stalk the next generations on Facebook, but that doesn't really appeal (plus it would be a b*gger to cite accurately, although I expect Elizabeth Shown Mills will have a solution.)

And then, like all modern families, mine is complicated -- how long does a relationship need to last before it's recorded?  Long enough to produce children (which needn't be very long at all)? What about one that lasted decades without children and without legal recognition before it broke up? Do the participants want it recorded? Should they have a choice? What about fractures in the family, where some elements know things that other don't? And there are weird and wonderful situations I can't even ask about here without potentially breaching privacy...  I can't record everything I know and be sure it won't come as a bombshell to others after my death (which is as certain as taxes, but hopefully further off.)

So, I've arrived at a simple solution that errs on the side of privacy.  Family history starts with my parents.  I'll record the number of children they had, with private notes that name the children and their birth years and their spouses. Any of their descendants who want to delve deeper will need to do the work themselves.

_{Cultural history footnote: I suspect there's a generational difference among my UK readers when they see the phrase The Young Ones.  Cliff Richard in the 1961 file of that title (released as It's Wonderful to Be Young! in the US, apparently) versus  the BBC sitcom from the early eighties starring Ade Edmonson, Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, Christoper Ryan and Alexei Sayle. (I think it also aired in the States at various times on various channels, notably MTV, PBS and BBC America.)  My youth spans both incarnations, and luckily they share a theme tune:  The Young Ones by Cliff Richard.}