Social media has a way of telling a story. You can see how my kids listen to every word I say to them. How they never fight with me or each other. It’s clear from the photos that I share that they clean up after themselves and completely understand the importance of household chores; that all we ever do is laugh, bake, read and practice all the extra circular actives they are in without resistance. As you can see on my Facebook page and Instagram feed, we have the perfect life.
Just kidding! What you don’t see behind the happy pictures I’m posting on my social media accounts are the temper tantrums one (or all of my kids) had a minute before the photo was taken. You don’t see me pulling my hair out because my thoughts are literally interrupted every ten seconds! You’re not seeing how my kids never listen to me without me losing my shit or that someone is always crying and sometimes that someone is me!
For example, you would never be able to guess from my posts that I seriously haven’t gone to the bathroom by myself in twelve years! I know what you’re thinking, “why wouldn’t I just close and lock the door.” That is a tall order. Let me tell you why:
1. My youngest will be sliding a cheese slice under the door asking me to open the package (and expecting me to slide it back to him), then throwing a fit when I don’t comply.
2. My middle child will start franticly knocking on the door because she has a red dot on her shirt and thinks she’s bleeding to death. I will remind her that we had spaghetti for dinner but she will stand at the door asking me if I’m almost done every couple of seconds because she needs me to confirm that she’s not dying.
3. My oldest child will decide that that’s the moment I absolutely have to sign a permission slip she’s had for the past 2 weeks and gets mad at me when I tell her to give me a few minutes.
4. My husband will NEED me to open the door to show me a funny video he is watching on Facebook and then continue to tell me in great detail what is happening while talking over the kids who are also trying to talk to me.
5. My dog will start growling at the kids because she is laying at the bathroom door waiting for me to come out but feeling smothered by everyone else who is also waiting for me to come out.
6. And, my cat’s paws are reaching under the door, trying to open it because God forbid a door is closed in our home.
Why would I post this less than glamorous (not to mention disgusting) turn of events. That all and all I had to give up my privacy in order to keep my sanity. That it’s so much easier to just let everyone in so that I can open the damn cheese so he can happily leave me alone for a few minutes. I can just look at the spaghetti sauce on my daughter’s shirt and giver her instant reassurance that she is not bleeding to death. I can sign that permission slip while I watch the funny video my husband needs me to watch. My dog can lay by my feet and my cat can have the satisfaction that the door is open.
It’s a natural to want to be accepted by others. No one wants to post a photo that doesn’t make things seem any less than perfect. I used to think something was wrong with me because I couldn’t keep up with the perfect images I constantly saw in my news feeds, but then it dawned on me, people only post what they want you to see. I’ve learnt that it’s OK and normal for my kids to drive me nuts and that I’m not the only one who has to endure hour long temper tantrums because my three year old wanted the blue icing on the cake, not the yellow. It’s normal for kids to walk around with chocolate pudding on their faces without a care in the world. This realization helped me to appreciate the experiences that I have with my kids. I’ve learned that although my life may not be “picture perfect”, it’s still pretty great.
