Bank passwords. I hate them.
My internet banking requires two separate passwords to complete a transaction. One for a log in, another to make a transfer or payment. And the second password is changed each month. Oh yeah, and it can’t be one of the previous ten you have used.
Are you kidding me?! I have enough trouble remembering if I put sugar in my coffee before I take a sip, never mind remembering and creating strong passwords on a regular basis.
I can’t even remember if I’ve conditioned my hair when I’m in the shower. And it’s not as if I’m in there for half an hour. But almost every time, I’m thinking to myself, “oh crap, did I condition my hair? Do I get out the shower now and run the risk of not conditioning my hair and it be all gross and hard to brush out? Or do I possibly double condition?”
Before kids, I had a phenomenal memory. No need for scrawling information on the back of my hand. My mind was a vault with incredible recall. Now, my kitchen bench permanently has post it notes stuck on it with reminders of things to do. I have alerts set in my phone to remind me to be somewhere at certain times. Even when my phone pings, I can’t remember what the reminder was set for without actually checking the phone. Our calendar on the wall makes us look super organised. It’s actually because I can’t remember half the coffee catch ups, PT sessions, appointments, work trips and school activities that have been scheduled.
When our youngest was born, he didn’t like to sleep. Actually, he is still not a fan of sleep. One day I was so sleep deprived and looked out the window at the washing line and saw it was covered in clothes. I had absolutely no recollection of hanging out the washing, but it must have been me. My husband was at work and we certainly didn’t have a washing fairy come and visit us.
Sleep deprivation does not assist in remembering all the damn passwords.
I’d like to see banks give customers the option of selecting “I’m a parent” when setting up their accounts. This could perhaps give us a different option to secure our details. Instead of remembering and changing our passwords on a regular basis, ensuring they have at least 10 characters, are a combination of alpha and numerical characters and blah blah blah, how about we have voice recognition? Sing the children’s song that has been stuck in your head for the past week. Or your regular parrot phrase such as, “please, just eat your dinner!” in an exasperated tone. Or a retinal scan of our zombie looking eyes?
Now that I’d like to see.
Has your memory suffered since having kids?
Linking up with Essentially Jess for #IBOT
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Life, kids and a glass of red 
Oh boy can I relate to you! I feel that I have had a lobotomy since pregnancy! I don’t even bother with netbank anymore because I can’t remember my passwords, and it’s become a bit embarrassing having to call the bank to reset it on multiple occasions. I often forget to reply to messages, emails, or even look at the notes that I make to remind myself of things. But I have to say, that I will at times often use this to my advantage, a selectively remember things too. Hehe.
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Or I type out a message and forget to press ‘send’ or can’t remember where I wrote down the notes I made…
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Once the fog lifts it’s like there’s another layer waiting to take its place. I have to write stuff down and even then I forget so much. I’m grateful our bank has a little code thing, like a remote, that I have to use each time for a new password, means I don’t have to remember a roving one!
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Yes yes YES!!! My phone dings too, and I’m like, where am I supposed to be again?! Don’t even get me started on passwords! So happy I’m not alone here:) Btw, just found you on FB too (I’m in disguise lol-the hubs and I share a page-you may see a comment from George Meredith Shafer, aka moi:)
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The other day the microwave pinged and I was like, “what did I put in the microwave in the first place!?” Perhaps I need supervision…
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Bahaha! I do the “why did I come in here?” thing all the time:) Maybe we both do-
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Oh yes my husband and I have the calendars on our phones synced up, which might seem really organised but it’s just because I’d forget everything otherwise! Oh and while I haven’t forgotten to use conditioner I did forget to wash it out once and wondered why on earth my hair was so greasy!!
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My memory is fecking terrible. In fact I think I wrote a blog post about it but I can’t remember if I did or not (I’m not actually trying to be funny, I actually can’t remember!). It’s so bad that at work I have to whisper to my workmate two minutes after I take a job ‘Which person was I serving again?’ because I literally have no recollection. So no, you’re not alone!
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Or when you walk in a room and have to take a moment to try and remember why you were going there in the first place? 🙂
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Love this :)! I very much can relate.
I wake up every morning and it take me 30 seconds to remember what day it is…..I shit you not. And love your part about phone reminders. I have my phone reminding me constantly about everything. I even have reminders for my reminders. My brain is fried from my kid.
I would so back you on the have a password that is the same as children’s song stuck in your head. Awesome idea. I had the theme from Peter Rabbit stuck in my head an hour ago. So not a cool thing to have on repeat in your brain.
This was funny. Thanks for the laugh xo
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I’ve had the tune of Banana Detective from Bananas in Pyjamas stuck in my head now for a couple of years. Once that sucker gets in to your brain, there’s no way you’d forget it 🙂 Glad you had a laugh, and happy that you could relate and I’m not the only one!
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I hear you! My memory is nowhere near as good as it used to be.
I tried setting up my pin numbers on my card to be easy to remember, and then stuffed it up so much that I’m now permanently confused at the shops.
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Thankfully I could use payWave the other day as I had a complete brain fart as to what my PIN number was. Quite embarrassing when there’s a queue of people waiting behind you…
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Omg I thought I was the only one! I used to be a savant with minuscule details now I can’t remember if I washed my hair either! Glad to know I’m not alone 🙂
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You’re definitely not alone!
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I got a new job at the same time I found out I was pregnant. Over the 6 – 7 months I was there I had to keep reminding my childless manager that I once had a decent memory for things. She was very frustrated at how I kept forgetting things. It was a high attention to detail job, which I used to pride myself in. Now my kid is almost 2 and I am like you. Why am I here in the kitchen? Why did I go on the computer? Was it to check someone’s FB page and send them a message. Why did I need my phone. Who was I supposed to call? shit shit shit
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My memory has definitely suffered since kids. I used to be able to remember everything and now I need three calendars, a diary and an iPhone to keep up with it all… Luckily my bank will SMS through a code if I need to transfer money to a third party so no need for a complicated or ever-changing passwords. That’s one less thing I need to add to my calendars, diary and phone!
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Oh man that is some super tough security your bank has got. Leaving some belated fairy wishes and butterfly kisses from #teamBOT
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Yep, can totally relate! My brain is mush – not sure if it’s the sleep deprivation, trying to do too many things at once, or the wine consumed to cope with the sleep deprivation and having too many things to do… Possibly a combination!
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Ohhhhh yep. Once realise did put a plate of sliced neat in the cupboard…when I found the cling wrap in the fridge!
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Oh my goodness, I love this ” “please, just eat your dinner!” in an exasperated tone.” Ha ha, sorry for the giggle, I am feeling your pain. 🙂 Xx
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Oh god that’s funny. I feel you. I used to be the Memory Queen – I could remember stuff that happened, things people said, places I needed to be and at what time. Nowadays I can barely remember the names I gave my children, let alone the 347 different passwords I have set up for All Of The Things.
I was resetting an old Ipod the other day so I could sell it, so I had to log on to Itunes, which I haven’t used for a couple of years. Naturally, I couldn’t remember my password. I tried a couple of my usuals (I know I know, you’re not supposed to replicate your passwords, but seriously who doesn’t?) but to no avail. So I admitted that I had forgotten my password, and had a temporary one sent to me. I had to retrieve that from my email account (which, of course, I had to remember my password for to log in to it), and then I signed back in to Itunes with the temp. Then it was time to choose a new password. My first attempt was denied – you can’t use a password you’ve already used. Second attempt – same deal. Third attempt – oh, you haven’t used that one before, but it’s not STRONG enough. Fourth attempt – not STRONG enough. DAMN IT LET ME DECIDE FOR MYSELF WHETHER MY PASSWORDS ARE STRONG ENOUGH!! I reckon it probably took me 15 minutes or so of fiddle-farting around with passwords before I was even logged in.
Anyway, I fully support your proposal for parent-friendly sign-in options.
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I’m sooo looped after having kids. Sleep deprivation has been going for 5 yrs now. I actually had just 3 hrs sleep the other night and felt better than a longer sleep. Must if caught the sleep cycle wave well! I crave sleep a lot!!
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We need far too many passwords in this world! It’s impossible to remember them all even if you don’t have a sleep-deprived, memory-addled brain. Which I most definitely do… most noticeably when grocery shopping, when I always seem to leave without the one thing I specifically went for.
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This is so me! Thank god for post-it notes. I am over all the usernames, passwords and security questions – and I can see it getting worse. It seems like everything these days requires a password! My repeated saying would be “Where are your pants?” or “Sand stays in the sandpit” 🙂
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So, so, so much. I’m as daffy as an eighty year old, mostly caused by the dreaded sleep deprivation that you write about so well. Gah! Good thing I can’t remember how sharp my mind used to be!! x
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