Social Media Overload?
I love social media. I love how easy it is connect with friends and family; I love how I can share my passions and interests with others; I love how I can find old friends and make new ones; and yes, I love the funny videos of grumpy cats and rapping princesses, too. As a work-from-home mom, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter provide an escape for me during the day and allow me to feel a little less isolated.
But lately I’m finding that social media has some major downsides, especially when it comes to how I parent. Here are some examples of posts that have popped up on my newsfeed recently:
“Ten Ways to Slow Down and Make Your Child’s Day”
“Five Ways to Teach Your Kids to Be Givers”
“Nine Best Ways to Stay (Mostly) Unruffled with Toddlers”
“Four Easy Ways to Build Your Child’s Self Esteem With Words”
Whoa! Noticing a theme here? Alone, these posts are wonderful! I love learning how I can be a better parent, and I don’t think I’m alone. The problem is that I find myself reading these articles in bulk and being completely overwhelmed. Am I’m doing this right? Have I been teaching my children the value of charity? Am I building my son’s self esteem by saying the right things at the right time? Do I lose my temper too often?
The other day, I was taking Owen to preschool and he asked me a pretty benign question. I can’t even remember what it was, but I do remember mentally thumbing through every parenting article I had recently read in effort to formulate the right answer. That is ridiculous. I snapped myself out of it and answered his question as thoughtfully as I could.
I’m coming to realize that while yes, we all need help every now and then, the most important thing to remember is that our kids need us to be our authentic selves. Experts and (gulp) bloggers might have some great ideas, but only we know what is best for our kids. Will we make mistakes? Most definitely. But those mistakes will hopefully help our kids relate to us in a way that any attempt at perfect parenting just can’t do.
I’m cleaning up my news feed and sticking to grumpy cats and updates from my favorite bloggrs and friends from now on. I’ll leave reading the parenting posts to the experts.
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by parenting advice on social media? Share in the comments!
Jamie is a mom of two boys and a freelancer writer and blogger living in Houston County. You can learn more about Jamie on her blog, thelaughtereverafterblog.com.
Editor’s Note: I’m so happy to see Jamie write about this- it’s something that I often struggle with myself!
– Molly
