Puppies, Passwords and Parking - Part 1 of 3

Written by Eileen Wacker

Most days, my husband asks me, “What did you do today?” I think really hard for a minute because I want to list things I accomplished. We left the house at the same time so he knows I drove the kids to school with the new puppy in the crate, but that doesn’t rate as an accomplishment. I hiked and made it home before 9am, carrying the puppy who fought against the leash and then sat, refusing to walk at all. I tried pulling him but dragging the cutest puppy ever as he looked like a confused plush toy being abused by a toddler wasn’t buying me any fans. After the hike, I barely had time to rinse off and no time to wash my hair, all the while watching the puppy christen every rug in the house. Our other dog, Buster Brown, howled and whimpered over the injustices.

Today, like many days, I forgot all my passwords. I needed one for Apple and it was as if I pulled at a thread and everything unraveled. Sounds silly. I should just use the same one for most accounts, right? Have a journal and write them down. I do that. Problem is many require a Capital letter or a number or at least eight characters. So my passwords have evolved into a maze I cannot decipher. When I’m on my desktop the cloud remembers them for me, but my phone or a child needing the Amazon password sinks me. Other moms confess that they can’t remember their passwords either. I have 72 passwords between social media, airlines, shopping sites, email and music accounts, my computer, banks, my business, and more. Those are the ones I remember. I’m sure I have dormant accounts such as retail ones that I use on late night shopping sprees for last minute Christmas gifts. I don’t have a bad memory yet (although my husband claims it is quite selective). It’s that the whole password culture has gotten out of control. I’ve thrown up the white flag on passwords.

Click here for Part 2 of Puppies, Passwords and Parking