(cross-posted at This Mommy Gig)
I just completed my ultra geeky mom certification today, I promise. No, it’s not an actual title, but it SHOULD be! I actually can’t believe I didn’t think of this earlier, but you can blame it on my late-start to the ultra tech world.
What did I do? I just bought domain names for my 1- and 2-year-old.
Yup, that’s right. I’m paying $9.95 per year to hold domain names for my kids until they’re ready to use them. And with me for a mom, they’ll be ready to use them sooner than later! I was kind of bummed that they didn’t have .com’s left for my kiddos’ names, but I did end up with .org’s which are good enough.
I actually plan to help my kids build their first sites when they get a bit older - I’m not going to use the domains to build them blogs right now where I blog about each kid, but want the domains to be used for sites THEY create eventually. I’m seriously not leaving the tech education of my children up to their schools, we’ll do this as a fun mom-kiddo activity.
They may not use these domain names for a few years, but my kids will be thanking me later…………they WILL, stop doubting me!
And yes, the total of my domain purchases this year is well over $100 - kind of cringeworthy, but buying them is addictive……..
Anyone else do this? Anyone? C’mon, I KNOW some of you did, since you told me about it on twitter!
I’m also excited because my .com name was FINALLY available and I just managed to grab it - yay!
Note: I bought the domains at DreamHost because I love DH’s easy install of WordPress for when I finally end up hosting something behind the names.
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
This is a good idea. I am confused by the buying of domain names with the additional options, so opted not to at this time. I do not own any domains so would need hosting and email?
Congrats on getting your kids started young. We will have to follow your lead and mine are 12 and 13.
Bonnie Sayers (autismfamily)s last blog post..Autism Reviewer Book Swap
I own my last name .com and .net, but only use the .net extensively (wife uses .com for her teacher website, but could live w/o it; I really just wanted to reserve it just in case).
Have considered doing the same, except rather than pay for each kid’s name.com, I’ve considered setting them up with sites at subdomains - e.g., dylan.bariexca.net and kiera.bariexca.net. That way, they can still use the single domain name for email, and I don’t have to shell out more. :-) Wondering what the drawbacks are here (and I know there must be a few)…
I know my last name is unique, and therefore this won’t work for everyone, but this brings up another question I’ve had on my mind - look at my whole name as well as my kids’ - are they too unwieldy and prone to misspellings for a domain name all on its own (firstnamelastname.com)? I know some companies buy potential misspellings of their domain (e.g. amazoM.com) and re-direct them, but I’m not doing that for every possible way someone could screw up my name. :-)
And yes, buying domain names can be addictive. I’ve stopped myself at 4, will likely let one expire in the next year or two, but have been kicking around this name thing for awhile now. Maybe 2 or 3 more in my future…?
Damian Bariexcas last blog post..Twitter’s Identi.ca Crisis
PS @bonnie: You do not need to purchase web/email hosting from the same company as your domain name; in fact, many folks recommend against doing that. You can just buy the domain names and “squat” them for years, if need be (just remember to renew them every year!).
I use Google Apps for Your Domain to handle my custom domain email. It’s free and it works like a dream - I get all the Google apps (gmail, calendar, docs, etc.) but under my domain name. Heaven!
Damian Bariexcas last blog post..Twitter’s Identi.ca Crisis
Bonnie - let me know if you want help with this :-)
Damian - VERY cool idea with the name.bariexca.net - love it! my last name is too common, so I didn’t even try to get olson dot anything, but could try, I suppose - lord knows I already have enough domains for a long time, but what’s one more?
Kate, you aren’t alone. I haven’t bought domain names, but have looked into it. I did last week, however, register their names at yahoo and gmail for email addresses. Hotmail/Live registration was down but I’m doing that soon.
Amber - oh, awesome idea! will do the gmail thing for my kiddos this week :-)
http://www.davisburgess.com
glad I’m not the only one
So funny - this came up at PodCamp Boston! C.C. Chapman said he had registered the domain names for his children as soon as they were born and asked if anyone else did. A few people raised their hands, including my dad - he registered not only all of his kids’ domain names, but all of his grandkids’ too!! He went to some conference last year where one of the presenters suggested it and he ran with it!
Jane - Mom Generationss last blog post..Pool Rules: They’re not just for kids
Hey Kate,
I need to do this soon for my kids. One is available as a .com, but the other isn’t. Perhaps I’ll add a middle initial rather than using .net
I’m sure they will appreciate it at some point.
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