“Gotta have the password before you can get into the tree house.” So go the days from yesteryear when all a kid needed was a big tree, a couple of old pieces of wood and an imagination to have fun all day long.

These days, we are all so bombarded by electronic stimuli, we’re missing out on the little things in life that can mean so much. Build a house in a real tree? Why, when you can build an entire virtual world online?

There’s a catch, though. You have to remember your password to get into the tree house or computer site. My children don’t seem to have a problem with either aspect. But I do. My mind is quickly becoming overloaded with passwords.

Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate the amazing computer generated times we live in and even like aspects of it. I think e-mails are great, have enjoyed reconnecting to old friends on Facebook and adore online bill paying. But if I have to create and remember one more password I think I’m going to crumble into a heap of bits and bytes.

Bank accounts, e-mails, social media outlets, favorite shows; the list goes on and on. Each with their own unique, hopefully untraceable password.

I take security very seriously because I have, unfortunately, experienced the harm identity theft, fraud and embezzlement can cause a person or a business. But I’m not afraid to admit that I am almost running out of passwords I can remember off the top of my head.

Unless I keep a list nearby my computer, I’m going to have a hard time remembering them all. And that kind of defeats the purpose, right? You don’t want your passwords just lying around for anyone to see (especially my children).

I decided to call my editorial staff members, most of whom were born at least six years after I graduated from high school (!), to ask them how they store all their passwords. Gosh knows, they’re signed up for more online sites that require passwords than I am and are much more savvy about these things.

They all had about the same answer: significant names or dates, same name different dates, different date, same letters, etc. And most had admitted they had forgotten their passwords in the past. But then you have to remember your online “hint” at what your password is. Favorite food? Gosh, was I in the mood for Greek or Italian the night I signed up for that site?

I guess I’ll have to start carrying around a little metal safe where all my passwords are securely stored. My computer belt, so to speak. And I’m going to keep it in my tree house.